(Photo Provided)

TC:How did you first get into dance?

CL:Well, I love to credit my mother because really she was and still is someone who loves ballet and loves dance. She took me to see the ballet and the orchestra and what I always loved about it was the whole production. To see those stories acted out in that way was really very attractive to me.

TC:When did you realize dance production was something you wanted to do for the rest of your life?

CL:Actually, I realized it in university. I knew I wasn’t a performer, but I always had this idea in the back of my mind that I wanted to be in the theatre, that I wanted to be around the buzz of a show.

So in the first couple of months of my first semester at [the University of] Waterloo I took courses that allowed me to be behind the scenes and I pretty much knew then.

TC:So what draws you to dance?

CL:Oh so many different things, really so many different things. I love the primarily non-verbal aspect of it. I love how no matter where you come from in the world, if you’re a human being, you have a body and no matter what language you speak, you can dance. I love how it has the potential to engage so many different art forms. Dance often partners with music but it can also partner with visual arts, theatre and architecture, and there’s just no limit to how expressive it is.

TC:What’s your favourite thing about being the dance producer of the National Arts Centre (NAC)?

CL:That I get to work closely with the choreographers who I think are one of the most fascinating breeds of people in the world. I also get to travel and discover artists in a number of different places, and I get to have a constant dialogue with my public about the things that I love and feel are important.

TC:What’s been your biggest challenge since taking over as producer at the NAC in 2000?

CL:I guess one of my biggest challenges has been to take a chance with more risky work. To make sure that we’re constantly pushing the audience to see so many different aspects of choreography, even though some might be more challenging.

TC:So I noticed you invite not only Canadian dance companies but also international companies to perform on your three stages. Why do you think it’s important to have both?

CL:Oh because the world is huge and dance is one of the few opportunities we have to see works by other countries where there’s not a language barrier. To bring choreographers from all over the place, I find it inspiring for our audience, for our artists and for the development of Canadian work.

TC:You also have a website called Arts Live which I checked out and it’s fascinating. It’s very user friendly and easy to navigate. What was your initial goal when creating this website?

CL:Well Arts Live was created by the corporation and each of the disciplines has had an opportunity to create a section. It brings the arts to the educational community and anyone else who’s looking for basic information about the history of a particular art form, how artists speak about themselves, etc.

TC:OK, so now with all the improving technology, dance has become available on TV and the Internet with websites like YouTube. Has this affected the NAC and its audience at all?

CL:Well I’m curious about that myself. I’d love to know more, but I have to think it has. The fact that people are talking about dance and curious about it through shows like So You Think You Can Dance, YouTube and all the other opportunities, it’s got to have a positive effect and that’s fantastic. I’m thrilled about that.

TC:So it seems that more and more dance styles are building off of each other and blending to form new styles, have you noticed a big change in dance styles over the years?

CL:Absolutely. The thing I often say is you can’t just say contemporary dance now, for example, because contemporary dance is so many things and I think that’s what’s so fantastic about it. Contemporary dance can be sensual, modern, abstract. There are many different approaches so I think that’s amazing. It has opened up to the influences of the world.

TC:Would you say there are any kind of trends in dance, are some styles more popular than others?

CL:Oh definitely. I mean hip hop is hugely popular, hugely popular. And there’s this sort of convergence between hip hop and contemporary dance, like hip hop that’s gone off the streets and into the theatre — that’s a huge change. Dance continues to evolve and will always continue to do so.

TC:Why do you think dance is so important to have in a community?

CL:Well first of all, it can bring other people to be more comfortable with their own bodies, which is great. It’s also an amazing art form that has great potential and I think that it can reach and touch people on so many levels so that, to me, is extremely beneficial.