Congratulations to our artistic director Jackie Latendresse on the incredible achievement of being awarded the Queen Elizabeth ll Platinum Jubilee Medal! This award is well deserved for her years of commitment and dedication to the arts in Saskatchewan. We are so proud of Jackie. This medal is being created to celebrate the 70th anniversary year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Accession to the Throne, which began on February 6, 2022. The medal is a tangible way for the province of Saskatchewan to honour Her Majesty for her service to Canada. She will be officially receiving the award from the Lieutenant Governor January 24th at TCU Place in Saskatoon.
Read more about it here: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/heritage-honours-and-awards/queen-elizabeth-ii-platinum-jubilee-medal
Jackie Latendresse is an alumnus of the University of Waterloo where she obtained her H.B.A. in Dance with a minor in Fine Arts. She founded Free Flow Dance Theatre in 1995 and has been the artistic director ever since. The Company relocated to Toronto in the winter of 1996 and has since found a home base in Saskatoon. Jackie has been choreographing and producing her own shows since 1993 when she presented her first full evening of dance works at Abstract Machines that Recognise Certain Languages. She has since created a large volume of work and her repertoire includes 20 works (20 min+) and numerous shorter works, Her work has been presented all over Canada at many venues ranging from traditional theatres to schools. The company has toured extensively with the Canadian Fringe Festival Circuit and is invited to present work regularly throughout Saskatchewan. She has received various awards including the Leading Edge Artist Award 1996 and Choreographers Collective Group Award 1997 – Kitchener Waterloo Arts Awards, A Special Merit award for her outreach with the LGBTQ community from Out Saskatoon 2011, been named Champion of the Arts by the Star Phoenix in 2017, was awarded a Saskatoon Foundation for the Arts Artist award 2018 and she received the 2021 Saskatoon YWCA Woman of Distinction award for arts and culture.
