INTERCULTURAL CONTEMPORARY DANCE
SINHA DANSE
Sinha Danse is a professional contemporary dance company based in Montreal and founded by Roger Sinha over 25 years ago. Creating, producing, and presenting contemporary dance are the center of the company’s mandates, choreographing with a level of excellence inspired by the Indian cultural heritage of its founder.
Promotion of contemporary dance is of major importance to Sinha Danse, as the richness that can be brought to this discipline using intercultural and multidisciplinary approaches. Music and new technologies are also greatly valued and present in many of its works.
Rich with history, the company has presented in front of multiple audiences. Its works across Quebec, Canada, and internationally. Renowned choreographer and dance specialist, Roger Sinha is a regular guest teacher for professional dance training institutions and events across the country.
Emphasizing the importance of his work, he was awarded the 2016 Prize for Cultural Diversity in Dance, presented by the Conseil des arts de Montréal, from PRIX DE LA DANSE DE MONTRÉAL
AWARDS
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Arts & Culture Lys Trophy 2017 given at the Grands Prix Mosaïque's gala for his work MoW! Promoting inclusion and outreach of diversity in all its forms.
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Cultural Diversity Prize in dance 2016: presented by the Conseil des arts de Montréal, for Prix de la danse de Montréal 2016.
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Kathryn Ash Choreographic Commission 2011, offered to a sélecte choreographer by the School of Toronto Dance Theater to create a production with students.
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Prix du public canadien at the Racines de Radio-Canada International 2010 contest for videodance, Haters n’ Baiters: The culture collision.
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Roger Sinha is chosen by the Canadian Dance Assembly (CDA) as ambassador for International Dance Day 2017.
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Sinha Danse has been sélecte five times for the Conseil des arts de Montréal en tournée for Loha/Thok, Apricot Trees Exist, Zeros & Ones/Thread, Sunya (2014-2015), Tope là, Tope ci, Wifi Takka Takka Dhim (2015-2016).
OUT OF BARK AND BONE
SHOW
Out of Bark and Bone goes back to the essential vital forces that define our humanity and give shape to who we are fundamentally, beyond divisions, affiliations, ethnic groups and cultural identities. Voice, breath and rhythm constitute the canvas of the piece. The constant fleeting interactions between humans, locked up in themselves, bouncing within the limits of their own breath, encircled by others, trying to escape, are driven by the essential need to continually outgrow and emancipate from what was there before, individually or as a group.
Two musicians accompany six dancers on stage in this piece, created by the choreographer Roger Sinha in collaboration with the dancers and composer Katia Makdissi-Warren. The perpetual inner rhythms of the bodies resonate with the deep sound of the didgeridoo and the steady beat of the drums in an effort to strip out the inessential. Humans and instruments communicate, sustained by the breath. Almost otherworldly throat sounds, coming from the depths of bodies, heavy with ancestry, get intertwined with the rhythmic projection of the human speech, fused within in the constant circular tones of the didgeridoo.
CRITICS
D’os et d’écorce est une pièce réussie, qui, souvent, émeut et galvanise. Elle est accessible et pourrait faire une bonne introduction à la danse contemporaine, tout en étant sophistiquée. [...] Ce qui nous a le plus transportés dans la dernière création de Roger Sinha est, en fait, la présence du chorégraphe lui-même. Formidable corporéité que la sienne, arrimée à son didgeridoo, traversant la scène tel un guide, accompagnant les sonorités de son instrument par des cris et des incantations, par ses mains et toute sa physicalité qui se déploient. Fait d’os et d’écorce, on pourrait le regarder pendant des heures."
Nayla Naoufal
Le Devoir
VIDEO
CREDITS
Choreographer
Roger Sinha
Dancers
David Campbell
Sébastien Cossette-Masse
Marie-Ève Lafontaine
Benoit Leduc
Erin O’Loughlin
François Richard
Rehearsal Director
Annik Hamel
Musicians
Bertil Schulrabe - percussions
Roger Sinha - didgeridoo
Original Music
Katia Makdissi-Warren and excerpts of the ’album Saimaniq of Oktoecho
Music creation and editing
Roger Sinha et Katia Makdissi-Warren
Voices on soundtrack
Lydia Etok and Nina Segalhowitz at Inuit Throat Singing
Vocal coach
Martel
Costumes
Lyne Beaulieu
Lighting Design
Stéphane Ménigot
Technical Direction
Jacques Pilon
Acknowledgements: Véronique Giasson, Mark Medrano and the dancers for their artistic contribution , Tony Chong for the choreographic research and Charles Koroneho for his artistic advices and the Maison de la Culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce for their invaluable support.
SUNYA
SHOW
Every sound stems from a gesture, but in an abyss of silence, does movement still occur? All expression comes from a memory. When there are multiple memories, how do they resonate? What happens when two artists team up? What happens when a choreographer and a composer at the crossroads of cultures join forces?
A co-production between Sinha Danse and the Constantinople musical ensemble, Sunyà (meaning “zero” and “number” in Sanskrit) refers to the fundamental paradox of being, of language, of movement… The movement of exile, the movement of hybridized art. Four dancers, three musicians and a visual artist all under the guidance of Roger Sinha and Kiya Tabassian create a common language. From the universal quest for identity to a collective epic comes a creative gesture, a dreamlike echo of a world reconciled.
CRITICS
Extremely poetic, inspired, hypnotic and moving. A sublime piece, a subtle invitation to travel that is as sensual as it is spiritual ... Beautifully touching."
Aline Apostola
La Presse
Sinha is a creative powerhouse whose onstage presence is as generous as it is captivating."
Voir
VIDEO
CREDITS
Artistic Directors
Roger Sinha et Kiya Tabassian
with Jo Leslie
Choreographer
Roger Sinha
Musical Conception
Kiya Tabassian
en collaboration avec Pierre-Yves Martel
Dramaturge
Jo Leslie
Visual Designer
Jérôme Delapierre
Dancers
Thomas Casey
Tanya Crowder
Marie-Ève Lafontaine
François Richard
Prologue Performer
Roger Sinha
Musicians
Kiya Tabassian - setâr et voix
Pierre-Yves Martel - viole de gambe
Patrick Graham - percussions
Costumes
Denis Lavoie
Lighting Design
Caroline Nadeau
Technical Director
Julien De La Sablonnière
Video Director
Elysha Poirier