As a pioneer of modern dance in Canada, Jeanne Renaud has had a rich and varied career. After studying in Montreal and New York, she taught and performed briefly in Paris before co-founding, in 1961, L’École de danse moderne de Montréal with its associated performing group. She later founded Le Groupe de la Place Royale, which she directed until 1971. Well known for introducing new and challenging styles of dance to the Montreal scene, Jeanne Renaud also believed strongly in the need for cross-fertilization of the arts. Her early contacts with the Montreal group of artists and writers called the Automatists fostered many collaborations for her as a choreographer. And when she later operated her own art gallery, Renaud consistently provided a space for the public to experience new music, theatre and dance.

Her multi-disciplinary interests eventually led to work in arts administration with the Canada Council for the Arts, the Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs and l’Université du Québec à Montréal. She continues to assist dance artists and companies with their creations and has currently completed a filmed version of one of her choreographies.

Jeanne Renaud has received the Governor General’s Award, the Order of Canada and the Prix du Québec.

Ray Ellenwood, Allana Lindgren

Notes to Exploring the Exhibition

The menu: Because of the vast amount of biographical information, the menu was created to give the visitor one-click access to specific areas of Jeanne Renaud's life. For those who wish to read through the Bio material page by page, we have added links at the end of each Bio page's text. Clicking on the "next page" link will take you to the page that follows in the chronology.

You will also notice some pages of the exhibition have images in the left sidebar. Like the images in the Gallery sections, when these thumbnails are clicked-on you will be shown the full image. Though most browsers will display the graphics in a "pop-up" of sufficient size, you may find that some adjustments of the window dimensions will need to be made. You should be able to do this by clicking-on and dragging the bottom right corner of the window. Additionally, some browsers will allow you to adjust the size by clicking and dragging on the outer edge of the window OR by clicking-on the "maximize" button (the button with the square symbol in the top-right corner of Internet Explorer or the green button in the top-left corner of Safari).

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©2009, Dance Collection Danse
Jeanne Renaud Exhibition Curators: Ray Ellenwood and Allana Lindgren
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