Abstract

In comparing the evolution of dance as an artistic activity in French and in English Canada, we are struck by the time lag that was experienced by Quebec dancemakers. The Catholic clergys stronghold in Quebec society, coupled with the arch-conservative regime of Maurice Duplessis in the 1940s and 50s, were contributing factors which slowed down the growth of dance as a bona fide art form in Quebec. Later on, with the advent of the Quiet Revolution which became the shaping force behind Quebecs search for cultural identity, artists - and among them, dance professionals - clamoured for artistic individuality and freedom from foreign role models. Consequently, a sociological perspective cannot be avoided in the study of the growth of professional dance in Quebec. The choreographic product in that province, born and bred from cultural tensions and identity quests, could not refrain from showing a different sensibility which, in turn, was triggered by different artistic concerns from those of the rest of Canada. Verf.-Referat