Two new faces join the team
A new year begins and with that, our team goes through some changes. During the parental leave of our two colleagues Catherine and Sarah, two new faces join the team to cover their departure. Both originate from the other side of the Atlantic, the first from France and the other from Belgium: Jonathan Even et Tine Dupré. They will respectively take on the role of audience manager and administrative director. We are thrilled to have them join our team for the next few months. Here they are!
Why don’t you tell us about yourselves and your paths that brought you here?
- Tine Dupré: With pleasure! I am from Belgium, where I have lived for most of my life, excluding some long term stays in other countries. I studied anthropology, which allows me to be interested in the social aspects of human groups, as well as their unique artistic expressions. Following that, I worked in administrative positions for various associations creating connections through the linking of the social with the cultural. When I discovered the job offer for the interim administrative director position at la Seizième, the urge to move aboard appeared again. I jumped on the opportunity, and I am thrilled to discover a new company, new ways of working, a new city, and a new country!
- Jonathan Even: I am a French citizen, originally from Aix-en-Provence. Through my programme at the Montpellier Business School, I got the opportunity to study and live aboard, most notably in Oregon, with the Eastern Oregon University. That experience made me want to expatriate myself, and after a stint in Montreal, I decided to move and live in Vancouver.
What does Théâtre la Seizième mean for you?
- Jonathan: I see Théâtre la Seizième as an opportunity for all residents of British Columbia, children and adult alike, to gain access to high quality artistic performances in French. The company also creates a nice representation of Canadian Francophone culture.
- Tine: It is an inexhaustible source of opportunity: become someone else, travel to new worlds, take a break and relax, create and develop new relationships, bathe in a new language. Like all arts, la Seizième enriches life itself.
What are you passionate about?
- Jonathan: I am a sports and art installation enthusiast.
- Tine: I am passionate about everything which shows us and allows for human difference and diversity. The arts, especially the performing arts, are staples for this.
Which play had the biggest impact on you?
- Tine: The play ‘Para’ from Belgian playwright David Van Reybrouck. Based on archives and interviews with ex Belgian paramilitary whose mission in Somalia failed. It’s a monologue which is both surprising and terrifying. A (fictionalised) ex-paramilitary shares the circumstances around the failure of the mission and the feeling of remorse which slowly eats at him. It’s not a joyful play, but it keeps you engaged from start to finish.
- Jonathan: I have a great memory of the play ‘Edmond’ directed by Alexis Michalik and performed a few years ago at the Théâtre de la Citadelle in Sisteron, close to Aix-en-Provence. The actors were excellent, and the play was hilarious.
An anecdote to share with us?
- Jonathan: I make homemade pizza. (THE SEIZIEME TEAM:…we’re looking forward to trying them!)
- Tine: Two and a half years ago, one of my best friends left Belgium, after having lived together for five years. Today, I am reunited with her in Vancouver, where, cherry on top, she becomes my colleague. It is the communications manager, Caroline Lambert!
