After performing for seven years with the Eddy Toussaint Dance Company Howard Richard branched out to study with Twyla Tharp in Boston in1983. Studying with Ms. Tharp was a real turning point for Howard Richard in his artistic career. Returning to Montreal in 1983, he received his first choreographic commission with Pointépiénu - Cast Dance to an Indigo Night. Howard Richard founded his company bringing together many of Montreal's finest: France Roy, Lise Bernier, Catherine Tardif, Mireille Leblanc, Marie-Andrée Gougeon, Phillipe Vita, Sacha Belinsky, Jill Marvin, and Nina Galea were just some of the great dancers he had the privilege of creating his first works with.

Mr. Richard was recipient of the 1990 Clifford E. Lee

Choreography Award. Since the eighties, he was commissioned to create works for many Canadian companies such as: Ballet Jörgen, Halifax Dance, Spindrift Dance Theatre (Kingston), Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, and Calgary City Ballet.

Howard Richard received the merit of distinction for the pas de deux, ...quelque parts dans le temps at the 1992 Suzanne Dellal, Tel-Aviv Choreographic Competition. In 1993 he received the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canada.

In 1996, Howard Richard choreographed for the Hollywood production, Hysteria starring Michael Maloney and Amanda Plummer. He has been an Artistic Advisor at l'École Nationale du Cirque since 1995, teaches contemporary dance in Montreal and Halifax, and is Artistic Director of H.A.R.D.

"Receiving the Clifford E. Choreography Lee Award offered me an invaluable experience to meet with many important and creative people. I had the professional environment of The Banff Centre to create and polish a choreography with the talents of fine dancers from across Canada and the United States. The dancers were hard working with curiosity and enthusiasm. I have only good memories of the creative process where everyone worked to their highest abilities." - Howard Richard

Return to the complete Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award Winners List

...And There You Are, All Alone Together (1990)

World Premiere 
Eric Harvie Theatre
July 11, 12, 13 & 14, 1990

Choreography: Howard Richard
Assisted by: Austra Gulens
Music: Arvo Part Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten & De Profundis
Lighting Design: Peter McKinnon
Costume Design: Madeline Brian

Allegra Lilland, Martin Valleé and William Marrie in 
...And There You Are, All Alone Together.
Photo: Monte Greenshields