Judith Marcuse awarded the Canada Council for the Arts Jacqueline Lemieux Prize

Vancouver artistic director, producer and choreographer Judith Marcuse awarded the Canada Council Jacqueline Lemieux Prize

Ottawa, September 16, 2009 – The Canada Council for the Arts announced today that Vancouver-based artistic director, producer and choreographer Judith Marcuse has been awarded the 2009 Jacqueline Lemieux Prize.

The Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, valued at $6,000, is awarded annually to the most deserving applicant in the Canada Council Grants to Dance Professionals program. The prize is awarded in memory of Jacqueline Lemieux and her contribution to Canadian dance. Co-founder with her husband, Lawrence Gradus, of the Montreal dance company Entre-Six and of Québec Été Danse, a summer school in Lennoxville, Jacqueline Lemieux was also a teacher and an administrator.

Ms. Marcuse was chosen by a peer assessment committee. This year’s committee consisted of Carol Anderson (Toronto), Margaret Grenier (Vancouver), and Kenneth Roy (Montreal).

In awarding the prize to Ms. Marcuse, the committee said, “With a long history as a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and arts advocate in Vancouver, we recognize Ms. Marcuse as an inspiration to the artistic community. We admire her continued eagerness to learn and her notable courage in developing new areas within the field of dance. She also has an impressive track record of producing resonant dance works.”

Judith Marcuse

Judith Marcuse has had a distinguished international career as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and producer in dance, theatre, opera, television and film. Her commitment to the marriage of artistic excellence and social relevance and her passion to integrate art into community life is at the core of her work in the theatre, the lecture hall, behind and in front of the camera and in her writing. She is the founder and artistic producer of Judith Marcuse Projects, a not-for-profit arts company that works in the disciplines of dance, theatre, music, film and new media. Among her many honours, she has received Canada’s two major choreographic awards, the Jean A. Chalmers Award (1976) and the Clifford E. Lee Award (1978). In 2000, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Simon Fraser University.

Ms. Marcuse is the founder and co-director of the International Centre of Art for Social Change (ICASC). The Centre, a partnership between Judith Marcuse Projects and Simon Fraser University, is a global centre for networking, training, professional development, research and community outreach in the field of art for social change. ICASC is also a hub where people can learn about the many ways that art for social change practices can be used as highly-effective tools in their work. Over the coming year, Ms. Marcuse will be working in Canada and abroad, deepening existing connections and creating new networks with artists and others working in the burgeoning field of art for social change. Learn more at  www.icasc.ca.

General information

In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering, and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to raising public awareness and celebrating these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.

Please visit our website (www.canadacouncil.ca) for a complete listing of these awards.