"It is fortunate that the Governor General should recognize achievements in the 'media arts.' For it is only a term as open-ended in its compass as 'media' that could possibly serve to embrace the wildly multifarious yet utterly particular art of John Oswald. 'Media' is plural, denoting more than one medium. And a medium, in its most basic sense, is a means, any means, of effecting or conveying something, anything. Medium is also a poetically apt word to invoke in the case of John Oswald, as it is directly derived from the Latin word meaning 'the one in the middle.' Oswald throws himself into

Carol Prieur started her career with Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers. She has worked with various Canadian choreographers and has participated in the touring production of Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault’s Joe. Grants permitted her to pursue her studies in New York, Europe and India where she was initiated into Kalarypayattu, an Indian martial art form. Since she became a member of Compagnie Marie Chouinard in 1995, two solos have been created for her: Humanitas and Étude Poignante.

The work of Edward Poitras has been included in many important group exhibitions (Canadian Biennial of Contemporary Art, Canadian Pavilion at Expo '86) and almost every major contemporary Native art exhibit of the last 20 years. In 1995, he represented Canada (the first Aboriginal artist to do so) at the prestigious Venice Biennale.

The 48-year-old, Regina-born Poitras is a treaty Indian of Métis ancestry and a member of the Gordon First Nation. In the late 1970s, he studied at the Indian Cultural College in Saskatoon and in the Native Arts and Communication Department of Manitou College in La Macaza, Quebec. In 1982, Poitras' pieces were included in the MacKenzie Art Gallery's “New Work by a New Generation,” one of the first exhibitions in Canada to recognize contemporary Native artists across North America.

Vandal débute sa carrière comme designer de mode. Au cours des dernières années, elle se distingue dans la création de costumes de danse. Elle réalise la conception de costumes de plus d’une centaine de spectacles. Ses créations manisfestent d’une grande originalité, d’un esthétisme recherché.

Elle œuvre pour de nombreux chorégraphes et compagnies de danse du Canada et des États-Unis : l’American Repertory Ballet, Le Ballet National du Canada, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, O Vertigo, la cie Marie Chouinard, le Washington Ballet, Dominique Dumais, Kevin O’Day et José Navas.

Gordon Monahan is an internationally recognized sound artist who is equally at home creating pieces for the piano or loud speakers, as he is making videos, kinetic sculpture or even computer controlled sound environments. His work encompasses many forms from concert music to the avant-garde, including multimedia installations and sound art. As both a composer and a sound artist, he juxtaposes quantitative and qualitative aspects of natural acoustic phenomena with elements from media technology, the environment, architecture, popular culture and live performance. Since the beginning of the 1970s, Gordon Monahan has presented the numerous facets of his work around the world in solo or in collaboration.

Margie Gillis is an internationally acclaimed solo dance artist. She has been performing her solo dance concerts across Canada and internationally for two decades. As choreographer and performer of over 70 solo dance works, she has earned rave reviews throughout the world for her personal, emotional and dramatic portrayals of human hopes, fears, joys and anguish. In 1979 she introduced modern dance to China, being the first performer, teacher and lecturer in the art since the Revolution. Her extensive touring has taken her throughout India, Europe, the Middle East and South and North America. She holds the distinction of being named Cultural Ambassador for both Canada and Québec. In January 1988 Ms. Gillis was appointed to the Order of Canada for her "outstanding abilities as a solo performer and choreographer" (the first modern dancer to receive this award).

David Earle has created a large repertoire of passionate dance works for which he has been awarded the Order of Canada. His Sacra Conversazione to Mozart's Requiem has taken his name to every continent.

Mr. Earle began dance training at the age of five. He acted for eleven years with the Toronto Children's Players, directed by Dorothy Goulding. His modern dance training began with Yone Kvietys in Toronto and he spent two years on scholarship at the Martha Graham School in New York. He danced in New York with the Jose Limon Dance Company and assisted Robert Cohan with the newly-formed London Contemporary Dance Theatre. Returning to Toronto in 1968, Mr. Earle co-founded Toronto Dance Theatre with Patricia Beatty and Peter Randazzo. He was appointed sole Artistic Director in 1987, taking the company to its first two triumphant seasons in New York and tours in Europe and Asia.

Born in Twillingate, Newfoundland, Anne Troake works as a choreographer, filmmaker, costume and graphic designer as well as a performer in dance, theatre and comedy. In 1994 she was invited to be artistic director for Neighborhood Dance Works, and from 1994-2001 she curated and produced the Festival of New Dance. Anne's choreographic works include The Sinking: stories of cold water ('97), A day in the life of Mr. P. Nis (video, '98), The Bearded Lady (video, '99), Fever DreamsŠperfect silence of glass (2002), Bell (2004) with visual artist Peter von Tiesenhausen.

Bill Coleman est né à Berwick (N.-É.), en 1961. Il a étudié à l’école de danse-théâtre Doreen Bird de Londres et a amorcé sa carrière professionnelle, en 1979, auprès de Sir Anton Dolin, de Dublin City Ballet. Depuis, il a créé plus de cinquante oeuvres et dansé entre autres avec les compagnies Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane & Co., Tere O’Connor Dance, Wiesbaden Ballet, Toronto Dance Theatre, Martha Graham Dance Company et William Douglas Danse, et les danseurs Laurence Lemieux et Jean-Pierre Perreault.

Born in Quebec City, Laurence Lemieux received her training at the School of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal, and at the School of the Toronto Dance Theatre.

In 1986 she joined the Toronto Dance Theatre and danced in the works of David Earle, Peter Randazzo, Patricia Beatty, and Christopher House. During her years at Toronto Dance Theatre (1986-1994), while teaching in the School's professional program, Lemieux choreographed and presented her own work. Crosswalk, a haunting minimalist solo she performed at the Canada Dance Festival in 1994, typified what has become her choreographic trademark: a gentle nostalgia offering subtle glimpses into her past.

Amber Silence, La Mer, Les Limbes, Déserteurs and Nuit de la St- Jean, all delve into the realm of memory and deliver a mysterious atmosphere and evocative mixture of characters.

In 1997, she choreographed Hiver Dernier for Toronto Dance Theatre, and created a group work as part of a choreographic lab with Peter Boneham for Toronto’s Dancemakers. Laurence has also danced for: James Kudelka, Margie Gillis, Tere O’Connor, William Douglas, Benoit Lachambre, Bill Coleman, and Jean-Pierre Perreault.

In 1998, she performed Cryptoversa, a solo created by Christopher House, at the 1998 Dancers for Life event, for which she won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Dance Performance. In January 2001 Over Lockerbie, a solo commissioned by dancer/choreographer Michael Trent, premiered at Artworld Theatre in Toronto, and her dance work Novembre premiered in New York City, in September 2001. Her latest work, Varenka, Varenka! premiered in Montreal in January 2003.

Photos of Laurence Lemieux