Louise Michel Jackson
Photo © Lara Oudjian
Technique classes - Feline mobility + Micro- M(acro/batic) GAMES
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We'll move through this:
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Athletic Physical Training: A dynamic blend of games, physical tasks, and structured improvisation exercises. Focus areas include: cardiovascular conditioning, muscle strengthening, ground support work, quadrupedalism (dynamic weight distribution across four limbs), shoulder girdle power and function, as well as the efficiency and fluidity of inversions and transitions between sky and earth (including small acrobatics and hand balances). The training emphasizes power moves, centrifugal force, while fostering an awareness of the center to enhance overall movement efficiency.
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Somatic Experiences: Empathy, perception thresholds, and active listening to oneself and others. Exercises involve rocking, wave-like motions, vibratory and repetitive movements, as well as the dissociation and isolation of various tasks and textures. These practices invite participants to translate and share their intimate sensations, fostering deeper connections through personal and collective expression.
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I imagine this week as a rigorous and expansive playground, where both subtle cellular and intense athletic/acrobatic movements combine to generate collective energy. It’s about taking risks with confidence, exploring textures, activating contrasts, and unlocking the creative potential of each individual through physical, sensorial, and cerebral stimulation. Such as a vibrant, sober celebration—with an fiery playlist that encourages fun, pushing limits, deep breaths, and an invitation to listen closely to the intimate, luminous laughter that emerges from within. In a world that often feels heavy lately, this space is about feeling and acting together to uncover the vitality and sensitivity within us, from the simplest to the most complex, and especially as close as possible to oneself.
Louise Michel Jackson
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© Sasha Onyshchenko
Technique classes
May 26 to 30
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
(10 hours)
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Wilder Building
Studio: to be confirmed
Pricing and
Registration
DAC pro - $ 100 ($10/hr)
Standard- $ 180 ($18/hr)
*This workshop may be partially reimbursed through the RQD Dancer Training Support Program . Please verify directly with the RQD.
Louise Michel Jackson​
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Louise Michel is a choreographer, performer, and teacher. For over 20 years, she has worked with various companies and independent artists such as Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Rubberbandance, Sasha Kleinplatz, Dana Gingras, Kim Sanh Chau, Frédérick Gravel, Grand Poney/Jacques Poulin-Denis, Adam Kinner, Simon Portigal, Lara Oundjian, and Eastman-Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. After living in Belgium for 5 years, she moved between Brussels and Montreal, where she created her first project STROKE (also known as SHUDDER) in collaboration with Ben Fury (Belgium). She later created her first solo work Bright Worms (Théâtre Lachapelle, April 2021 and Offta 2023), a research project on bioluminescence, incorporating video projections and light devices in collaboration with sound artist Magali Babin. She is currently working as a creative ally with Edon Descollines (associate artist of the company Joe Jack et John) for his show Trou Noir(Espace Libre, October 2025). Since 2023, she has been a Chargée de Cours at UQAM and teaches for EDCM and DAC. Since 2021, she has also been working in the plant field at the Jean-Talon Market. With her hands in the earth and "out of the dance circuit," this fascinating sphere has become essential for maintaining a good mental balance and providing the necessary space for reflection in her artistic practice.
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Transmission Practice:
Louise began teaching in Europe in 2012 by leading workshops on the repertoire of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Since then, she has drawn inspiration from a multitude of influences (instructors and collaborators—extraordinary humans) from Europe and here, who have shaped her pedagogical and creative approach to teaching. She practice transmission as a shared exchange of materials, information, tools that are useful, expansive, and malleable, all grounded in real-world, performance and studio training experiences. She encourages an intuitive momentum, drawn from vital energy and the anatomical limitations inherent in each body. Far from focusing on form, she prioritizes the practical and efficient motor function of a movement’s structural organization. She shares improvisation structures that offer technical tools and composition strategies to foster mindfulness, autonomy, and confidence through choices that are fueled by intention, clear tasks, and deep sensation. Louise advocates for horizontality, where pleasure, power, fragility, curiosity, kindness, rigor, and critical (constructive and unpretentious) analysis coexist in the same space.