" Bodies are my building blocks. I must find the natural movement of those who inhabit them, then put it to work for the show. Also, teamwork and the sharing of ideas are an endless source of inspiration for me. "

Catherine Archambault comes from a family of artists and was immersed in culture from an early age. She took up classical dance and the violin when she was seven years old before turning to modern dance, jazz and artistic gymnastics.

Having obtained a Bachelor’s degree in contemporary dance at Montreal’s Concordia University and danced with a number of choreographers, including Montreal-based contact dance pioneer Andrew Harwood, Catherine made a discovery that marked a major turning point in her career. She choreographed a Spanish web act for a student of Montreal’s National Circus School. It was nothing short of a revelation for Catherine who had just discovered the circus world.

Jumping into this new creative space, Catherine Archambault kept on choreographing circus acts, paving the way to assignments with Cirque Archaos (France), Cirque du Tonnerre (Quebec) and Cirque Éloize (Quebec), for which she choreographed the very first show in 1992. Her work has led to a dozen prestigious prizes, including Silver (hand-to-hand trio) and Gold (duo trapeze) Medals at the Festival mondial du Cirque de demain in Paris, the Silver Cup (aerial cradle) at the International Acrobatic Art Festival in China, Gold (hand-to-hand trio) at the 1992 International Circus Festival in Mexico City, the Press and “Festival Favourite” Awards (aerial straps) at the Tournai International Circus Festival in Belgium, as well as the “2002 People’s Choice Award” (diving) at Paramount Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto.

The year 1991 marks Catherine’s first assignment with Cirque du Soleil, when she choreographed a trapeze act performed by twins Karyne and Sarah Steben. The following year she acted as co-choreographer on the show Fascination, which ran in Japan.

After working on grass-roots projects in the United States and Europe, Catherine Archambault returned to Cirque du Soleil to take part in the choreography of the show presented to the heads of state gathered at the G7 1995 Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Catherine was drawn back to Cirque du Soleil in 1999 and became Artistic Coordinator on La Nouba, a job she held until 2001. She acted as artistic consultant and acrobatic coordinator on the television series Solstrom in 2003 and on the show Soleil de Minuit (Midnight Sun) in 2004.

Wintuk represents Catherine Archambault’s greatest challenge as a Cirque du Soleil choreographer. “The show’s choreographic elements fuse rhythmic movement with low-altitude acrobatic routines weaved seamlessly into the story line,” she explains. There are many extreme sport specialists on the Wintuk cast but few professional dancers. “What a wonderful challenge for a choreographer,” she adds.

Catherine Archambault was born in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Quebec.