Stephanie Lake Company is a multi-award winning contemporary dance company based in Melbourne. Known for a gutsy, original choreographic style and striking visual aesthetic, Stephanie Lake Company’s highly acclaimed works include Manifesto, Colossus, Monsters, Skeleton Tree, Replica and Pile of Bones. Working in collaboration with Australia’s leading dancers and designers, the company has performed in major festivals and venues across Australia and the world, touring internationally to France, Germany, Hong Kong, Denmark, Singapore, Scotland, Ireland and Taiwan.

Stephanie Lake

Stephanie Lake was born in Saskatoon, Canada, raised in Launceston Tasmania and is now based in Melbourne (Naarm), Australia. She is a multi award-winning choreographer, dancer and artistic director of Stephanie Lake Company. She is also the Resident Choreographer of The Australian Ballet. 

Stephanie has been awarded the Helpmann Award, two Australian Dance Awards, two Green Room Awards and the Melbourne Fringe Award for Most Outstanding Choreography. In 2013 Stephanie was appointed inaugural Resident Director of Lucy Guerin Inc, which included working as Guerin’s choreographic assistant at Lyon Opera Ballet. Stephanie received a prestigious Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in the same year and the Dame Peggy Van Praagh Choreographic Fellowship in 2012. She was the recipient of the Australia Council Fellowship for Dance for 2018-2019 and Chloe Munro AO Fellowship in 2022.

Stephanie has created multiple works for Sydney Dance Company (The Universe is Here, Dream Lucid, Elektra), Chunky Move (AORTA, Mix Tape, The Loop, Our Golden Cages, Broken Wing), The Australian Ballet (Circle Electric), Queensland Ballet (Biography, Chameleon), Dancenorth (If Never Was Now), New Zealand Dance Company (If Never Was Now), Tasdance (The Howl), Expressions Dance Company (Ceremony), Australasian Dance Collective & Beijing Dance/LDTX (Auto Cannibal), Stompin, Frontier Danceland – Singapore (White Noise) and the Victorian College of the Arts. 

Stephanie sits on the Victorian College of the Arts Advisory Board and is Ambassador for Stompin youth dance company based in Tasmania. Her performance career spanned twenty years, touring and dancing extensively with Chunky Move, Lucy Guerin Inc and Phillip Adams’ BalletLab.

Côté Danse

Côté Danse burst onto the Canadian dance scene in 2021, thanks to the collaboration between Choreographer Guillaume Côté and Producers Etienne Lavigne and Anisa Tejpar. Since then, they have been actively presenting a range of original works and immersive dance experiences.

Under the artistic direction of Guillaume Côté, Côté Danse establishes a unique vision, combining classical dance knowledge with captivating geometries and intense human connections. Their style is characterized by contemporary lines, sleek contours, and refined athleticism, creating a distinct and dynamic aesthetic.

Through collaborations with a diverse group of designers, artists, and partners such as Robert Lepage, Mirari Studios, and Son Lux, Côté Danse has successfully produced four full-length productions. The company attracted significant attention since its very beginning, with 140 performances in 23 cities in its first four years of existence.

Ex Machina

Led by artistic director Robert Lepage, Ex Machina creates, produces and disseminates multidisciplinary artistic works, most often theatrical. 

The company brings together creators from several fields of activity and offers a broad range of artistic productions: original plays written and performed solo or collectively, plays based on existing texts, productions in which various disciplines (dance, music, museology) mingle with theater, operas and multimedia productions featuring a predominantly technological dimension. Ex Machina develops the majority of its shows in Quebec City, then presents them abundantly in Quebec, Canada and elsewhere in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

Beyond their diversity, the company’s projects have some features in common. Anecdotes lead to the exploration of ideas such as the revelation of identity through exposure to the other. Cultural intersections, the nature of the creative act, interrupted communication and states of dependence are recurring themes. Several dramatic situations oppose the quotidian to the extraordinary, the naturalism to the metaphor, and somehow diffident characters to historical figures. The multilingualism, the massive use of images, the reversal of perspective, the variations in scale, the use of narrative codes borrowed from cinema and the use of technological tools aim to spark meaning and emotion, reflecting a desire to poeticize theatrical expression.

Guillaume Côté, Choreographer

Guillaume Côté, a native of Québec, is a renowned Principal Dancer with The National Ballet of Canada. He has performed major classical roles and worked with the world’s most esteemed choreographers. As a guest artist, he has danced with prestigious companies worldwide, including The Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, English National Ballet, the Mikhailosky Theater of St-Petersburg, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Berlin’s Staatsoper, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Stuttgart Ballet, Hamburg Ballett, Verona Opera and the South African Ballet Theater. In 2012, he co-founded Anymotion Productions to produce high-quality independent dance works. Côté also serves as a Choreographic Associate with The National Ballet of Canada, with eight of his works in the company’s repertoire. His ballets have received critical acclaim, including Enkeli, which won the Audience Choice Award for Best Choreography in 2012. He collaborated with director Robert Lepage to create Frame by Frame in 2018. In 2021, he founded his own company, Côté Danse, and premiered innovative works such as Burn Baby, Burn; X (Dix); Cyrpto and Touch. Côté has received numerous awards and was named Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec in 2021.

Robert Lepage, Director

Robert Lepage is a renowned multidisciplinary artist, celebrated as an actor, director, playwright, and stage director. Known for his original, contemporary works that blend history with cutting-edge technologies, he began his career after enrolling at the Conservatoire dʼart dramatique de Québec in 1975. In 1994, Lepage founded Ex Machina, a multidisciplinary creation company, and later established La Caserne and the venue Le Diamant in Quebec City. His most significant works include The Seven Streams of the River Ota, The Dragonsʼ Trilogy, The Far Side of the Moon, The Image Mill, and his collaborations with Cirque du Soleil, KÀ and TOTEM.

Founded in Budapest, Hungary in 2012 by director and choreographer Bence Vági, Recirquel has by now become one of the leading contemporary circus companies in the world, representing a unique style of circus combined with dance and theatre, building upon the flair of mid-eastern European – Hungarian classical theatre culture. The productions of this pioneering company bewitch audiences worldwide with the immersive quality of the magical universes they create. Recirquel has opened the gates for contemporary circus in Hungary and carries a strong mission to acquaint audiences with this new form of performing arts.

Bence Vági

With a background in modern and classical dance, Bence Vági is a director-choreographer whose innovative approach to performing arts redefines the magic of theatre and circus in an original way for a contemporary audience. After completing his university studies in directing and choreography, he founded Recirquel in 2012. As the Artistic Director of Recirquel, he continuously seeks new creative horizons, never resting on past achievements, and has become one of the most acclaimed figures in Hungarian performing arts on the global stage. 

Hung Dance is a Taiwanese contemporary dance company founded in 2017 by artistic director and choreographer Lai Hung-chung. Inspired by the word “hung (翃),” the company’s name reflects its aspiration to soar. Focusing on annual productions, international collaboration, and tours, Hung Dance also organizes the Stray Birds Dance Platform to foster choreographers’ creativity and connect them to global resources.

The company has earned numerous awards for its exceptional choreographic pieces “Watcher” and “Birdy” in renowned competitions and festivals worldwide. It has also embarked on an extensive international tour, captivating audiences across Europe, Asia, America, and Africa with over two hundred mesmerizing performances.

Hung Dance’s performances are a unique blend of traditional and contemporary elements, inviting audiences to interpret, imagine, and embrace dance’s timeless beauty. Lai Hung-chung’s choreography delves into human emotions and the connection between culture and nature. By seamlessly blending elements of Chinese opera, mythology, and Tai Chi with contemporary concepts, he has created a unique dance vocabulary and training system that is sure to intrigue and captivate.

Lai Hung-chung

Lai Hung-chung, a Taiwan National University of Arts graduate, founded Hung Dance in 2017, leaving a remarkable imprint on Taiwanese choreography. In 2016, he won gold and three awards at the Taiwan Creative Dance Competition, a record-setting feat. Lai’s triumphs extended globally, garnering accolades in international choreography competitions.

Lai’s creation, rooted in the theme of freedom, incorporates Tai Chi elements with contemporary concepts, fostering an inventive dance vocabulary and pushing creative boundaries. Noteworthy pieces like “Boundless” (2018), “See You” (2020), “Formless Erosion” (2022), and “Birdy” (2023) reflect this ethos. “See You” received Taishin Arts Award nomination and earned acclaim at prestigious festivals, including 9 five-star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival. “Birdy” sold out all its 20 shows at the Festival OFF Avignon in 2023.

Lai drives international collaboration and supports emerging talents. He founded the Stray Birds Dance Platform in 2019, spotlighting innovative, international choreography and offering production and touring opportunities. Lai’s commitment to diversifying Taiwan’s dance scene is evident in his cultural exchanges and connections.

In summary, Lai Hung-chung’s Hung Dance legacy encompasses pioneering achievements, international recognition, and a commitment to enriching Taiwan’s dance landscape through artistic exploration and global engagement.

As a creation and production company, Daniel Leveille Danse (DLD) invests in dance and performing arts creators who are deeply committed to artistic research. Guided by its artistic director, the organization offers personalized and strategic support to help creators make their voices heard both at home and abroad. In addition, DLD develops structuring projects that contribute to the fabric of its community.

The company supports the work of Frédérick Gravel, its artistic director, in addition to promoting projects by Catherine Gaudet, Alix Dufresne, Ellen Furey, Stéphane Gladyszewski, Étienne Lepage, Manuel Roque and Daniel Léveillé.

Daniel Léveillé

A well-known Canadian choreographer and dance teacher, Daniel Léveillé holds a place of high regard on the national and international scenes of contemporary dance. In forty years of practice, he has contributed to the development of choreographic art by creating a corpus of major works performed by exceptional dancers.

An alumni of Groupe Nouvelle Aire, Daniel Léveillé worked for many years as an independent choreographer before founding his own company, Daniel Léveillé Danse, in 1991. While penning choreographies for different dance and theatre companies, he was a Professor of creation and interpretation at Université du Québec à Montréal’s (UQAM) Dance department from 1988 until 2012. Pursuing this double career path, he refines and deepens his choreographic style and develops a unique approach to the interpretation of dance, without submitting to the demands of the art market.

Daniel Léveillé was awarded the Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal in 2017 for his impact on the dance community and the longevity of his career. The jury sought to recognize Léveillé’s unique signature, his artistic integrity, and the remarkable support and transmission efforts enabled through Daniel Léveillé Danse. In 2018, Daniel Léveillé steps down as artistic director of the company and is replaced by Frédérick Gravel. He remains active in the company as a choreographer.