Photo by Jeff Lucas
Sophie Brassard is a London-based contemporary dance artist from Vancouver, Canada. She works as a performer, choreographer and producer.
Sophie graduated from Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in English literature in 2015. She has continued her dance training through the Training Society of Vancouver, through an EDAM Dance contact improvisation scholarship and through various intensives (highlights include TransFormation (Danse à la Carte, Montréal), Ensemble Thinking (Foolish Operations, Vancouver) and Countertechnique (Vault Movement, Vancouver).
As a performer she has worked for local companies and choreographers such as Julie Lebel, Jennifer Mascall, Damarise Ste-Marie, Voirelia, Dezza Dance, Alejandra Miranda, Carolyn Schmidt, Rachel Helten and Antonio Somera. She has performed in short films by Sepideh Yadegar (choreographic direction by Deanna Peters), local band Strange Breed (with choreography by Caitlin Griffin and Kyle Toy) and by Voirelia (choreography by Alina Sotskova). She is an Artistic Associate with Foolish Operations and has toured across Canada as a dancer with Paper Playground, their fully immersive performance for children aged 0-5.
As a choreographer she has created dance works for several showcases such as Dezza Dance’s Leg Up! Performance Series, Mascall Dance’s Bloom Series, the Response.’s Dance Café and Vines Art Festival. She is one half of new dance collective, Little Fish Productions along with Jenna Kraychy. Their outdoor dance and physical theatre work for all ages Fantastic Fun Zone was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and a residency at le théâtre la Seizième. They’ve performed the work over 25 times in the Greater Vancouver area and in Victoria, BC throughout 2021 and 2022. In August 2023, they made their international début at East Quay, Watchet in the United Kingdom.
As a producer she has worked in the realm of tour development since 2017 through Made in BC - Dance on Tour (now known as Dance West Network), Fascinator Management and Belsher Arts Management. While at MiBC, she coordinated Des arts dehors/Arts Outside, a mentorship program that supports artists in marketing and touring their work. At Fascinator and BAM, she has worked as an agent associate and helps to promote contemporary dance and theatre companies from Canada. She has assisted these agencies with administration, tour coordination and development, contract negotiation and communications. She has also worked as the communications manager for New Works and Foolish Operations.
In London, she now works as the Network Producer for Siobhan Davies Studios’ Continuous Programme. This programme brings experimental dance works to a network of art galleries around the United Kingdom.
Sophie also works as an occasional dance teacher and has taught francophone dance workshops in the past few years, for le Conseil Jeunesse Francophone de la CB during events such as les Jeux Francophones de la CB, le Concours Crescendo and le projet InterActions. In July 2020, she took part in the Conseil Culturel et Artistique Francophone de la C.-B.’s new project, called Créations Connexes which involved an artist residency in Prince George where she worked with the francophone community in leading a series of workshops with a final public performance.
Photo by Sonia Sanchez Lopez
Francophonie & Press
Au cours des dernières années, j’ai été impliquée de façon bénévole dans la communauté franco-colombienne. J’ai siégé au conseil d’administration du Conseil jeunesse francophone de la CB pendant cinq ans, incluant un mandat en tant que présidente. J’ai aussi été impliquée à la Fédération de la jeunesse Canadienne-française, dont un an comme vice-présidente de l’organisme. Au sein de la Fédération des francophones de la CB, j’ai passé un an comme membre de la Table Communautaire sur le financement. Pendant au delà de cinq ans, avec un groupe de bénévoles, j’ai organisé des soirées sociales pour les 19+ de Vancouver appelés les 6 à 8 francos.
Grâce à mon engagement dans la communauté, j’ai été nominé et fut une des gagnantes des Jeunes leaders d’ici de Radio Canada en 2017. À travers cela j’ai pu m’exprimer sur des sujets qui me tenaient (et me tiennent encore) à coeur comme la sécurité linguistique et les injustices dans l’industrie de la restauration (dans laquelle je travaille depuis que j’ai 15 ans).
An important part of my adult life has been dedicated to volunteer work and advocacy within the francophone community in BC. I was on the board of the Conseil Jeunesse Francophone de la CB and la Fédération de la Jeunesse Canadienne-Français for several years. I also helped organized monthly pub nights for francophones in Vancouver for over five years. In 2017, I won a Radio Canada contest named “Jeunes Leaders d’Ici” which enabled me to speak about topics that were important to me, such as “la sécurité linguistique” and problems in the restaurant industry. Here are some interviews, speeches and articles, in French, from the past few years.
Janvier 2022: Entrevue pour l’emission Radio Canada Culture et Confiture Listen
Juillet 2021: Entrevue à Radio Canada Fantastic Fun Zone Listen
Avril 2019: Dance Café interview Radio Canada Listen
3 novembre 2018: Discours au Sommet sur la transmission linguistique: Watch video
Novembre 2018: Entrevue Radio Canada sur la francophonie: Listen
Décembre 2018: Coexisdance Western Edition 1 Interview Radio canada: Listen
Juillet 2018: Mon texte sur l’industrie de la restauration Read
Juillet 2018: Entrevue Radio Canada - L’industrie de la restauration Listen
Juin 2017:Jeunes Leaders d’Ici Contest & discours sur la sécurité linguistique: Watch video
Novembre 2016: Participé à une table ronde sur le futur de l’éducation Watch video
Septembre 2016: Une franco-colombienne devient vice-présidente de la FJCF Read