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Victor Quijada - Compagnon des arts et des lettres du Québec

Prix et reconnaissances
Le Devoir

On June 9, 2025, Victor Quijada received the insignia of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec, a prestigious distinction bestowed to personalities whose exemplary achievements reflect the artistic and literary development of Quebec. Discover the tribute paid to him by the CALQ.

Dancer, choreographer, director, mentor and educator, Victor Quijada  has gone from hip-hop clubs in Los Angeles to Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in his adopted city. He danced for a dozen companies before founding his own in 2002: RUBBERBAND. The name suggests the elasticity of a choreographic language based on flexibility and fluid transitions between explosive and controlled movements, tension and release. Energetic and refined, some 60 pieces bear his distinctive signature in dance, the circus arts, film and television.

With RUBBERBAND, Victor Quijada redefined the codes of breakdancing, ballet and contemporary dance for their mutual enrichment. He has taught his method in over 200 schools and companies around the world. He has received fourteen awards for his talent and contribution to the Québec dance world. But what is priceless is seeing artists from historically marginalized communities take to the stage because of his efforts. By erasing boundaries between dance forms, Victor Quijada has gracefully and powerfully upended the hierarchy that sustains exclusion.

The Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec is a distinction of the Council which aims to honor people who have made a remarkable contribution, through their commitment and dedication, to the development, promotion or influence of the arts and letters of Quebec.

The CALQ would like to thank its partners, the Caisse de la Culture and the newspaper Le Devoir.

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