Dena Davida

Dance

Dena Davida is one of the key figures that have made Montreal a premiere centre for contemporary dance. Since arriving in Montreal in 1977, she has worked as artistic director, teacher, and scholar. In 1982, she co-founded the Festival international de nouvelle danse with Chantal Pontbriand and Diane Boucher, bringing names like Pina Bausch and Merce Cunningham to Montreal and helping to launch the careers of La La La Human Steps and O Vertigo. That same year, she co-founded Tangente, a hothouse for contemporary dance. Since then, she has programmed for both organizations, taught at the University of Sherbrooke, obtained a PhD, and published numerous academic papers. She is working on several projects, including editing an anthology of Quebec dance and launching a dance bookstore. Born to an artistic family in New York, she studied theatre and dance and, just before moving to Montreal, founded the Caravan Dance Collective in Minneapolis. (PF)