Robert Guy Desrosiers (born October 10, 1953) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

dancer and choreographer. After a brief dance career, he founded the Desrosiers Dance Theatre and choreographed surreal and theatrical dances. After the company’s disbandment, he pursued a variety of artistic professions before returning as a freelance choreographer.

Early life and dance career

Desrosiers was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. In 1965 he studied at the National Ballet School and briefly danced with the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca, the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

. His tenure with them was short-lived and he left to dance and perform in various dance companies in North America and Europe. When he moved back to Toronto, he performed with various companies such as Ballet Ys, Dancemakers and

Toronto Dance Theatre The Toronto Dance Theatre is a Canadian modern dance company based in Toronto, Ontario. Described by ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' as "one of the foremost modern-dance companies in Canada", the company tours nationally and internationally and regu ...

Choreography and Desrosiers Dance Theatre

Inspired by his own choreography ideas, he created a Toronto-based dance company called Desrosiers Dance Theatre in 1980. Some of his early work included ''Nightclown'' (1980), ''Fools Table'' (1982), and ''Ultracity'' (1986) These early works often had dance mixed with elements of theatricality and acrobatics. He often focused on surreal spectacles with fantastical sets, props and costumes. During the 1980s and 1990s, Desrosiers typically did not create work outside of his company. An exception to this was ''Blue Snake'', commissioned by Eric Bruhn for the

. This choreography included three-dimensional sets with automated mechanical structures and surrealistic costumes. While popular, the production was expensive to produce and only showed for one year. This piece gained Desrosiers international attention and led the National Ballet into a new era of their company. The piece was also immortalised in an hour long special produced for television. Desrosiers was commissioned by the 1988 Calgary Olympics Arts Festival to produce ''Incognito''. Desrosiers danced the role of the main character, who suffers from a mental breakdown and explores various mental disorders, including multiple personality disorder and

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

. The work was based on events from Desrosiers' own life when he felt that his mind and career were out of control. The piece incorporated many different animals and mythological creatures to bring a surrealistic element to the piece. Desrosiers enlisted the help of Doug Henning and Brian Glow to incorporate

quick change ''Quick Change'' is a 1990 American crime comedy film directed by Howard Franklin and Bill Murray (in their directorial debuts) and written by Franklin. Based on the novel of the same name by Jay Cronley, the film stars Murray, Geena Davis ...

magic tricks and vanishing acts. After performing at the Olympics, Desrosiers reworked the piece by removing some of the magic acts and rearranging the narrative plot. The updated piece toured throughout Canada and the United States. Desrosiers' choreography in the 1990s put more emphasis on movement and less on theatricality. Some of this work included ''Jeux'' (1990) and ''Black & White in Colour'' (1993). By 1996 Desrosiers returned to theatricality a surreal imagery in his choreography. Desrosiers attempted to stage a complete season of work at what was then known as the O'Keefe Centre. Although seen as an artistic success, this performance was not financially viable. This combined with a decrease in government grants due to government budget cuts and a perceived notion that his choreography was not evolving artistically. Desrosiers was also suffering from a major injury to his right hip, which developed into

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

. In 1999 the company ceased its operations.

Other work

When his company disbanded, Desrosiers retreated from the dance community. He had very little money and relied on his family for support. He pursued his interest in visual arts in a cabin on a lake near

Bancroft, Ontario Bancroft () is a town located on the York River (Ontario), York River in Hastings County in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was first settled in the 1850s by descendants of the United Empire Loyalists and Irish immigrants. From the mid-1950s ...

. In 2003 Desrosiers was cast as a choreographer in Robert Altman’s '' The Company''. In the film, Desrosiers' character is creating a new choreography for the company. In actuality, he is depicting the creation of his previous work, ''Blue Snake''. Desrosiers hosted a documentary about dancemakers in the Canadian community with

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from 2004-2006. In 2007 he was commissioned by Canada's Ballet Jörgen to create ''Rendezvous''. Desrosiers underwent hip surgery in 2010 to treat his arthritis. The successful operation allowed Desrosiers to begin teaching his choreography again without as much pain. This gave Desrosiers the passion to rebuild his dance career. Desrosiers returned to Ballet Jörgen in 2013 to create ''Bouffonia'', a choreography that returned to his style of surreal dance with theatricality. The name is based on the French word for clown or jester, and incorporates elements of

commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

. The music for the piece was composed shortly before the dance premiered, so the dancers practiced with metronomes to set the tempos.

Awards

In 1980 Desrosiers was the first recipient of the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize by the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

. He later won the Jean A. Chalmers Award for choreography in 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desrosiers, Robert 1953 births Living people Canadian choreographers Modern dancers Entertainers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian dancers 21st-century Canadian dancers