PReSENTATION

INTRODUCTION
A non-profit, registered charitable organization, L'École de danse de Québec (L'EDQ) has been contributing to the training of professional dancers for over forty years. One of three professional training institutions in the province of Québec to hold an official mandate by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education, L'École de danse de Québec has been recognized by the former since 1981 and by the latter since 1996.

Solidly rooted in its community, L'École de danse de Québec is renowned for the quality of its teaching staff, the excellence of its training and its unique contribution to the artistic development of the Quebec City region. The school's reputation also draws students from all over the province of Quebec, from other Canadian provinces and even from Europe.

Since its inception in 1967, L'École de danse de Québec has striven to maintain the highest standards of excellence. In 1991, the school and its partner, the Danse Partout company, were awarded Quebec City's prestigious arts award, the Prix d'excellence de la culture de la Ville de Québec, in recognition of their important contribution to the development of dance in Quebec's Capital. Since the company's demise, L'École de danse de Québec has been associated with La Rotonde, Centre chorégraphique contemporain de Québec, a local contemporary dance presenter. The school's Executive Director is Kathleen Timmony.

MISSION
L'École de danse de Québec's primary mandate is to offer pre-professional and professional dance training specializing in performance. The institution fulfils this mandate by means of its rigorous training programs which respect international norms associated with professional dance performance. The school also embraces the mandate of offering quality dance training to the general population through its recreational division and actively contributes to the promotion and the development of dance as a performing art through various means, including performance, outreach initiatives and advocacy.

The school's professional division includes four distinct programs:

• Danse-Études - a half-day dance & academic program specializing in classical ballet and contemporary dance techniques (grades 5 through 11), offered in conjunction with a local school board;
• Danse-Interprétation - a full-time post-secondary level professional training program which leads to a diploma in contemporary dance performance, offered in conjunction with the Cégep de Sainte-Foy;
• Danse contemporaine - a full-time post-secondary level professional training program which offers the same specialized dance training as Danse-Interprétation, without the academic component, and leads to a certificate in contemporary dance performance;
• Preparatory program - a one or two year intensive dance program aimed at the serious and talented dance student who does not meet the entrance requirements associated with the diploma and certificate programs.

For the general public, the school's recreational division proposes a variety of dance genres, styles and levels during its regular autumn and winter semesters, intensive weekend workshops and summer programs. The recreational division is accredited by Quebec City's department of recreation, La Cité district.

ORIGINS
The institution known as L'École de danse de Québec is the result of a merger in 1987 between the Centre de Danse de Québec, founded in 1976 under the name l'École supérieure Les Ballets Jazz and the Danse Partout school, whose origins hail back to 1967, when Ludmilla Chiriaeff founded l'Académie des Grands Ballets Canadiens - section Québec.

LE GROUPE DANSE PARTOUT
The school is a branch of Le Groupe Danse Partout, founded in 1976 by Chantal Belhumeur and Claude Larouche. Its board of Directors is composed of dedicated individuals from both the arts and the business sectors. The corporation was originally composed of the Danse Partout company, Quebec City's only professional contemporary dance company from 1976 to 1997. Under the artistic direction of Chantal Belhumeur during its first decade, the company was run by Luc Tremblay from 1986 to 1997. Upon its demise, Le Groupe Danse Partout was extended to include La Rotonde, Centre chorégraphique contemporain de Québec, Quebec City's only professional contemporary dance presenter.

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

• 1981 L'École de danse de Québec is recognized by Quebec's Ministry of Culture as a post-secondary professional training institution in modern dance.

• 1990 L'École de danse de Québec is invited to join the local school board's Sports-Arts-Études program, ensuring specialized pre-professional training in ballet and contemporary dance, grades 5 through 11.

• 1991 L'École de danse de Québec and La Compagnie Danse Partout are awarded Quebec City's prestigious arts award, the Prix d'excellence de la culture de la Ville de Québec, for their important contribution to the development of dance in Quebec's Capital.

• 1996 L'École de danse de Québec's post-secondary level professional training program in modern dance is officially recognized by the Ministry of Education and leads to a ministry sanctioned certificate (AEC / NRC.0A).

• 1999 Ministry of Education recognition goes one step further with the introduction of a ministry sanctioned diploma for the school's post-secondary level Contemporary Dance Performance program (DEC / 561.BB).

• 2003 The Ministry of Education recognizes L'EDQ's high school level Danse-Études program, offered in partnership with the local school board's Sports-Arts-Études program.