Dancer Margie Gillis visits her former elementary school, Carlyle in TMR

Internationally acclaimed choreographer and dancer Margie Gillis returned to visit her former elementary school, Carlyle in Town of Mont Royal on February 28 . She answered questions, showcased many of the medals she has been awarded and even danced with and for the children.

Watch this video: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/917738744

The legendary Margie Gillis from EMSBTV on Vimeo.

Ms. Gillis developed her art over nearly five decades, shattering norms while inspiring audiences. In 2023, she celebrated 50 years of creation and dance, assembling a repertoire of over a hundred works. Among her many honours and awards is the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. She is also a Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Québec and an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2020, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Concordia University in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to modern dance, teaching, and activism as one of the most influential dancers and choreographers of her generation.

The Margie Gillis Dance Foundation, created in 1981, enables her to unfailingly depict our weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and to celebrate our hopes and the power of creation. She has created over 150 solos, duets and group pieces, presented worldwide. An unrivalled ambassador for Canadian dance on stages around the world, she was also the first international figure to teach contemporary dance in China, in 1979. In recent years, it's this love of teaching and transmission that has kept her busiest–though she continues to create and, in 2023, performed her final solo, OLD, to a sold-out audience at the Agora de la danse. With her company, the Margie Gillis Dance Foundation, she strives not only to transmit, but more importantly to transform her vast repertoire of solos, often into ambitious ensemble pieces. The result of persistent demand from many dance professionals, this initiative enables her to revisit her practice from a different angle and open up her choreographic universe to a new generation of performers and viewers, thus ensuring the longevity and vitality of her art.

About the English Montreal School Board

With a youth and adult sector population of more than 35,000 students, the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) is the largest English public school board in Quebec. Established on July 1, 1998, when the province created new boards along linguistic lines, the EMSB network consists of 73 schools and centres. For more details, visit the EMSB website at www.emsb.qc.ca.