A Montreal choreographer and a major figure in hip hop dance in Quebec, “Spicey” began his career as a choreographer in 2005. Her passion for this art was born in the 80s when she was very young. The symbiotic relationship she maintains with dance and Hip-Hop culture in her choreographic work is the essence of her artistic signature.
“Spicey” began her dance career as a dancer and teacher. As an independent choreographer, she presented three works in Quebec before 2015, including Retrospek (2008, 9 performers), which influenced a generation of Montreal street dancers. Awarded the Rideau-Entres en Scène Loto-Québec grant in 2009, Retrospek was presented by some twenty broadcasters. At the same time, the Bust A Move Festival that she founded (2005-2015) became the largest street dance competition in Canada (up to 3,500 spectators and participants annually); TOHU became the co-presenter in 2010.
Wishing to push his artistic aspirations further, and promote street dance creation and artists, “Spicey” founded the Ebnflōh dance company in 2015.
Surrounded by accomplices and peers, she approaches the hip-hop language from a new choreographic angle, which is at once exploratory, radical and authentic. True to the intention and the form, it encourages research and experimentation. In the bubbling and dense matter of bodies, his work explores our intimate and social relationships, our modes of functioning and interaction. A graduate in psychology, she is also deeply inspired by music, theater, cinema and the visual arts. In the last few years, she trained in film directing for dance.
With Ebnflōh, “Spicey” created Complexe R in 2015 at MAI (Montreal, Intercultural Arts) with 5 female performers, a work inspired by our obsessions. The show travels to New York and Amsterdam. In 2019, the choreographer staged 6 isolated individuals in her work In-Ward, with which she won the Revelation Prize of the Montreal Dance Awards. The jury highlights “the power of the choreographic approach” of “Spicey” and “his signature [which] is distinguished by its depth”. The play was a finalist for the 35th Grand Prix of the Conseil des arts de Montréal in 2020. In-Ward was presented 50 times in Canada, Scotland and Germany from 2019 to 2023.
During the pandemic, the choreographer created two works for webcast: Hanging by a Thread (8 performers) presented by DanceWorks (Toronto), and the duo Ever Endeavor, a choreographic commission for the National Arts Centre (#DansEnvol). In 2021, “Spicey” delivered a moment of dancing in complete freedom in the film TESSEL by Esie Mensah, in which she participated with 14 black artists from Canada. In October 2021, Danse Danse presented its latest creation, La Probability du Néant (8 performers) at the Théâtre Maisonneuve in Place des Arts; the work will be revived in Vancouver at the end of 2023. The choreographer is currently working on a new piece that will be broadcast at Théâtre La Chapelle in spring 2024, in coproduction with Danse-Cité. As a director and choreographer, she is also finalizing her first short dance film, Le Néant.
A performer and teacher of hip hop dance for over two decades, “Spicey” is regularly invited to teach (TransFormation Danse, “Focus on Dance Research” —Concordia University, National Circus School of Montreal, Circuit-Est, Circuit-Est, Studio 303, RQD, etc.), and to judge street dance competitions here and internationally. She acted as a dance coach for Cirque du Soleil (Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour). As a choreographer, she has collaborated with the Fashion & Design Festival (Montreal) and Radio-Canada in particular.
She is found as a movement advisor on several theater productions (Black Theatre Workshop, Arrivals Legacy Project, Chokola presented at La Licorne in 2023, etc.). She is the guest co-curator of MAI with artists Lara Kramer and Angie Cheng for 2021-2025. Strongly committed to supporting the next generation in street dance, “Spicey” has been designing and managing B-Side since 2019, an annual event produced by Ebnflōh that is dedicated to the development of street dancers.
It also offers workshops and mentoring to emerging artists. She has served on several boards of directors, including that of the Reunification Québecois de la danse, of which she was vice-president from 2020 to 2022, and that of Jack Of All Trades (JOAT Festival) since 2021.