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Jo Lechay is a Canadian painter who formerly worked as a professional dancer and choreographer. A figure of international acclaim, she was known for many years as one of Montreal's most prominent dancers.〔"Lechay counts down to Absolute Zero," ''Montreal Gazette'', 26 October 1992, C3.〕 ==Early years== Lechay was born to an artistic family in the United States; her father was the painter James Lechay.〔Sarah Binder, "Dancer puts ideals on stage," ''Ottawa Citizen'', 30 December 1988, C7.〕 She was raised in Iowa and, after an early interest in sports and competitive swimming, began dancing at age seventeen. She graduated from the State University of Iowa in 1957 and then moved to New York City for more extensive dance training, primarily with Allan Wayne. Two years later, she married writer/director/designer Eugene Lion, who would remain an important and frequent collaborator until his death in April 2013.〔(Obituary: Eugene Lion ), ''Montreal Gazette'', 11 May 2013.〕 Lechay joined Merle Marsicano's dance company in 1960 and remained a fixture of the New York dance scene for many years.〔John Oughton, "Jo Lechay's body language; An approach to dance that none of the labels seem to fit," ''Montreal Gazette'', 8 February 1983, p. 13.〕 After spending four years in Hawaii during the late 1970s, she moved to Montreal in 1980. Lechay founded the Jo Lechay Dance Company (later renamed as ''Danse Jo Lechay'') in 1975.〔Linda Howe-Beck, "Lechay's dancers deserve better material," ''Montreal Gazette'', 15 February 1986, C5.〕 Over the years, the company would feature dancers such as Andrew de Lotbinière Harwood, Sylvain Émard, and Motaz Kabbani.〔Linda Howe Beck, "Improvisation master is behind 6th Sense," ''Montreal Gazette'', 28 March 1998, C5; Linde Howe Beck, "Kinetic creation: Choreographer trusted the dance would show itself," ''Montreal Gazette'', 31 October 1998, C6; Susan Walker, "Arresting images highlight Winchester dance program," ''Toronto Star'', 29 September 2000, E10.〕 Her organization became known as one of the most innovative in Quebec; in 1995, she remarked, "We really have been pushing (the boundaries). We were among the first to use contact work, to have women lifting men, and to be singing and speaking on stage."〔Philip Szporer, "Sci-fi burlesque; Jo Lechay pushes boundaries in a performance that combines dance and painting," ''Montreal Gazette'', 21 May 1995, F3.〕 A ''Globe and Mail'' review from 1983 described Lechay as having "an obvious antipathy to prettiness" and of using dance "as an art/act of aggression." The reviewer further described Lechay's creative ambition as "to balance dynamics of jabbing, flailing speed with concentration and attenuation; to look careless while in fact being meticulous; to be ever watchful and thus to fool the enemy."〔Alina Gildiner, "Jo Lechay's martial artistry Dance that pulls no punches," ''Globe and Mail'', 11 February 1983, E5.〕 A production from this period entitled ''Ice'' was given favourable reviews,〔John Oughton, "Dancing to a different tune," ''Globe and Mail'', 15 May 1983, E3; Stephen Godfrey, "Conference-goers offered 80 works," ''Globe and Mail'', 28 June 1982, p. 16.〕 although a subsequent work called ''Take Five'' received an ambivalent response from the Montreal press.〔Linda Howe-Beck, "Lechay's dancers deserve better material," ''Montreal Gazette'', 15 February 1986, C5; Marianne Ackerman, "Alas, this is neither dance nor theatre," ''Montreal Gazette'', 27 April 1987, D2.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jo Lechay」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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