Biography: Originally from Ottawa Ontario, Philippe-Alexandre Jacques is a graduate of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s Aspirant Program as well as a past participant of international programs such as Springboard Danse Montréal and the Netherlands Dance Theatre Summer. During his time in the Aspirant Program and after, Philippe had the opportunity to perform in many of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s performances, such as Moulin Rouge, Twyla Tharp’s the Princess and the Goblin, and other classics such as The Nutcracker. In 2015, Philippe started working as a choreographer artistic coordinator, and teacher for the RWB School where he lead projects such as the choreographic competition and incubator,First Steps, as well as the Winnipeg branch of the National community outreach initiative, Sharing Dance. As a choreographer for the RWB School, Philippe had the chance to create for various events including the end of year performancesSpotlight and On The Edge. An independent dance artist who strongly believes in artivism, his latest autonomous projects include choreographing Tejido about cooperative action, for Horizons, the 360 film created in celebration of Canada’s 150th, A Day in the Life of a Young Person with Anxiety, a series of videos on the stigmatization of severe anxiety, in collaboration with Dr Roberta Woodgate of the University of Manitoba, and for Teater Interakt, for their piece Ingen förstår, så jag låtsas att jag förstår about living in Malmö, Sweden, after migration, from 1945 to today. Jacques is also a frequent performer in Peter Quanz’ Q Dance, and a teacher in various styles internationally.

Class description:  A Classical ballet structured class that explores and strengthens both somatic and cerebral understanding of weight change, musicality, and energy circulation with and within the body. We also explore energy dissemination from the body for both performative and functional uses. Movement is the driving force of this approach rather than shape. Though a classically based class, music is of diverse origins.