Photo: Michael Slobodian VAN GRIMDE CORPS SECRETS A BLOSSOMING SPRING UP AHEAD FOR VAN GRIMDE CORPS SECRETS! An exciting spring is in the works for Isabelle Van Grimde and the company, between a conference in Banff and a three-week visit to Japan. Unfortunately, the volcanic eruption in Iceland forced the company to cancel its trip to Europe, which was planned for mid-April. FROM DANCE TO SCIENCE What is the impact of popular culture and art on the public's perception of biotechnologies? In order to tackle this question, teachers from the University of Alberta's Department of Art and Design and the Health Law Institute have put together a research group. Isabelle Van Grimde is among the artists and researchers of international renown invited to reflect on the interface between art and science in the context of this long-term project entitled Science, Social Controversy and Art: An Interdisciplinary Exchange. In the course of the group's first meeting in Banff on April 28, 29 and 30 she will present her artistic process, in conjunction with the research on perceptions of the body that she has conducted since 2004 amongst prominent figures in the artistic, scientific and intellectual milieus, in the context of The Body in Question study. She will show how this research informed the creation of a choreographic corpus for Duo pour un violoncelle et un danseur and Bodies to Bodies III.

These interdisciplinary exchanges, sponsored by the Stem Cell Network, will give rise to various presentations and culminate in 2011 with two large group exhibitions, the first of which will take place at the Glenbow Museum, Western Canada's largest museum, the second will take place in Toronto in association with the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).

MIGRATIONS, TAKE ONE: DESTINATION JAPAN

On May 1st, Isabelle Van Grimde flies to Japan where she is invited to participate in Plateforme, a transcultural laboratory directed by choreographer Susan Buirge. Her aim: to begin research leading to the elaboration of a choreographic corpus inspired by non-Western traditional dances. This first phase of the Migrations project will focus on the study of kagura, ritual dances from which Noh theatre originates. Isabelle Van Grimde plans to observe the agrarian and sacred forms of these dances in the countryside and Shinto temples of the Shimane region. Drawing on Susan Buirge's expertise regarding Asian ritual dances and the resources of Plateforme's documentation centre she will also benefit from the use of a studio in order to begin developing a new gestural vocabulary. A thrilling project that continues into 2013.

BODIES TO BODIES III IN BRUGES

Its' name is Eyjafjallajökull, it stands 150 kilometers away from Reykjavik, and its recent eruption completely disrupted European air traffic. Despite the best efforts of Van Grimde Corps Secrets team, it was impossible to find another flight to Belgium, where a performance of Bodies to Bodies III (Les chemins de traverse – Metz) was scheduled to take place on April 21st at the Concertgebouw in Bruges.

Based on a principle of open creation, this choreography-concert for four dancers and five musicians was received very enthusiastically in France, the Netherlands, Montreal and Lennoxville in 2009 and 2010. It is the fruitful culmination of a co-production between Van Grimde Corps Secrets, Arsenal de Metz, Agora de la danse and Montréal Danse.