Ballet Eddy Toussaint is kicking off its new year under a new directorship. In October of last year, Ballet Eddy Toussaint celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founder, Mr. Eddy Toussaint, with a brilliant finale performance of his artistic jewel Concerto en Mouvement. At the end of the evening, Toussaint delivered his gratitude and respects to all who helped put his career on the world stage and all of those who had helped put on the gala benefit as well as his passing the torch of the title of Artistic Director to Mr. Timothy Tompkins.

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Tompkins began his classical ballet training at the age of twelve with former Cuban ballerina Dulce Anaya. He graduated high school at the Harid Conservatory (a Russian ballet school in the United States) in 2005. After graduation, he was invited to join the Houston Ballet. In 2007, he joined the Goh Ballet in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he performed several major roles in various ballets such as The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, Napoli, and Don Quixote.

It was in 2008 that he decided to settle in Montreal to join Ballet Eddy Toussaint as the principal dancer of the company. In 2010, Tompkins won the gold medal at the International Ballet Competition held in Sibiu, Romania, for Best Couple with his partner Klara Houdet. At the same time, he added to his credit several performances of Toussaint’s repertoire such as Un Simple Moment, Souvenances, Bonjour Brel, and L’Irreparable Saint-Georges (winner of the prize of the president during the competition in Sibiu). Sometime later, he became the ballet master for the professional company as well as the École de Danse Eddy Toussaint.

In 2011, he received his college diploma in arts from Florida State College and completed a Bachelor of Business Administration two years later. In 2013, he was appointed a member of the UNESCO International Dance Council by the council chairman, Dr. Alkis Raftis. In March 2018, Tompkins was appointed General Director of Ballet Eddy Toussaint for which he has been working with Toussaint to manage the company and develop it to its full potential. And today, he has become a choreographer himself for various works of the company such as “Britten Pas de Deux”, “Crazy Zorba”, “The Awakening of the Intimacy”, “La Favorita”, and more.

Tompkins remarks that while he had been an apprentice of Toussaint for nearly 15 years as a dancer, he had always shared the same artistic vision. He mentions that he had always admired Toussaint’s tenacity as a Haitian native who made an international career in ballet while not using the color of his skin as an excuse but as a means to make his mark on the world stage. “Over the course of the past few years, Mr. Toussaint has been asking for my help in the administration and communications aspects for the company as well as me being a ballet master, principal dancer, rehearsal director, and general manager,” says Tomkins. “I soon came to realize that, during this period, he was indirectly grooming me for the position of artistic director. And I was pleased to accept.” Tompkins humbly says that he was honoured as the shoes he was filling were colossal ones. “I am where I am today because I stood on the shoulders of giants,” he says. Toussaint still holds a seat on the board of directors as an executive and as the company’s founder.

About Eddy Toussaint
Eddy Toussaint was born in Haiti, where he began studying classical ballet at the age of six. His teacher was Lavinia Williams, a former dancer for Kathrine Dunham and Alvin Alley. When he was eleven, Toussaint’s family fled Haiti and moved to Montreal. Continuing his classes with most of the great masters of the time, he studied with Eva Von Genscy and Zeda Zare from Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, as well as the big names in jazz: Matt Mattox and Luigi in New York. Toussaint received a bachelor’s degree in pedagogy from the University of Montreal and a bachelor’s degree in physical education with a dance major from Université du Québec à Montréal.

It was in 1971 that Toussaint founded École de Danse and Compagnie de Danse Eddy Toussaint. In 1973, he was a guest teacher at the Banff School of Fine Arts. In 1976, the company was invited to the Olympic Games in Montreal and for this special occasion, Toussaint created Damballah, inspired by his native Haiti. In 1983, Toussaint was the recipient of the Great Montrealer Award for his personal contribution to the arts in the city of Montreal. In 1984, he also received the gold medal for the best choreography at the first international ballet competition in Helsinki, Finland. The finalists were world-renowned choreographers such as Roland Petit, Maurice Béjart, Norbert Vesak, and Jiri Kylian.

In 1990, he formed the Sarasota Ballet of Florida and became their first artistic director as well as principal choreographer. There, he started the “Dance: The Next Generation”, in collaboration with the University of Florida; a seven-year program for financially disadvantaged talented children.

In 1998, he was appointed artistic advisor and resident choreographer of the Moravian-Silesian National Ballet in the Czech Republic. There, he discovered the exceptional talent of Zdenek Konvalina. As a coach, he created two new works that Konvalina performed in the Helsinki International Competition in June 2001 and received the gold medal.

Toussaint has choreographed more than 104 ballets, including Bonjour Brel, which was chosen to be part of the opening gala program of the new opera house in Moscow. Using classical ballet as his basic vocabulary, Toussaint’s work was particularly commended for his ability to use the personalities and interpretive skills of his dancers as a way to engage his audience emotionally.

Toussaint has had his ballets from the repertoire of the Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, San Diego Ballet, Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Caracas Ballet in Venezuela, Ballet West, St. Louis Ballet, Ballet Toulouse in France, Brandywine Ballet, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Avignon Ballet in France, Bordeaux Ballet and the National Ballet of Moravia-Silesia in Brno, Czech Republic.

In 2016, Toussaint moved the school and the company to Laval, making Ballet Eddy Toussaint the first professional ballet company in Laval.

Upcoming Events
Under its new artistic direction, Ballet Eddy Toussaint will be performing its first production in 2022 on International Dance Day (April 29th, 2022 at 7 pm) at the Maison des arts de Laval. The company will honor Toussaint’s career by presenting Alexis Le Trotteur. 

The story is based on a Quebec folk tale about Alexis Lapointe of Lac-St-Jean (a person who really existed), who was aptly named Le Trotteur. Lapointe was known to be able to run faster than horses. However, while talented physically, he has psychological issues and believes that he is a horse himself and whipping himself to stimulate his speed. These exploits handicap him from experiencing love and friendship. The ballet begins with group folk dances and finishes with a pas de deux, where traditionally, in ballet, it is the other way. He is then delivered from his sickness by a woman. This is the ballet that brought Toussaint international fame. And incidentally, this is the ballet that Le Devoir refers to Toussaint’s company as “une digne ambassadrice du Québec”.

Tickets are on sale at
www.balleteddytoussaint.org
and via telephone
at 514-383-9204.