Québeco-vietnamese and raised in Ottawa, B-girl known as Cleopatra and co-founder of dance company Tentacle Tribe, Emmanuelle Lê Phan has forged a singular career path intermingling breaking, contemporary dance and circus performances. Her dance’s virtuosity brought her to Cirque du Soleil stages (The Beatles LOVE Show in Las Vegas), Cirque Éloize stages (ID) and other international special events.
In essence, what draws her in is movement invention and choreographic finesse. In her body, a varied array of forms: breaking, popping, capoeira, parkour, house, modern and a desire to bond them into her own freestyle language. This versatility is a result of a varied training spectrum: from completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in contemporary dance at Concordia University in 2003, to battling in breaking and all-style categories since 1999. Her past collaborations include co-founding Solid State Breakdance Collective and dancing for Marta Marta House of Pride, Rubberbandance, Bboyizm, and Out Innerspace Dance Theatre.
In 2012, the decision to create with Swedish choreographer Elon Höglund steers them into their new Tentacle Tribe universe. Since then, the company has created many works, notably Nobody Likes a Pixelated Squid, Threesixnine, Ghost and Prism. As a solo choreographer, Emmanuelle has created a female trio, Origami Mami that has toured in many Hiphop festivals internationally as well as commissioned pieces: a sextet for Dansens Hus’ Urban Moves featuring some of Oslo’s best street dancers, a sextet for Festival 100Lux entitled Fil Rouge and a group piece for l’École de Danse de Québec. She also created a full length Miroir Boudoir in Québec City exploring reflections in set design.
B-girl Cleopatra stays active on the breaking scene by repping and judging with the all-female Legendary Crew.
Photo: Elias Djemil-Matassov