Francis Pomerleau
Percussionist with mainly self-taught training, Francis Pomerleau is a drummer (jazz, blues, r&b, pop, rock, funk, hip-hop, trip-hop) and percussionist in contemporary dance. The percussion instruments he uses are of Cuban (bongos, congas), South American (cajon), North and South African (tar, djembe, tamböa), Middle Eastern (darbouka) and Irish (bodhran) origin; he also uses a range of other percussion instruments of diverse origins to enrich his palette of soundscapes.
Since 2006, he has been a percussion accompanist in contemporary dance, and has worked for l'École de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal - ex-LADMMI (with Anne LeBeau, Marc Boivin, Nathalie Blanchet, Sophie Corriveau, Sylvain Lafortune, Jamie Wright, John Ottman, Christine Lamothe, Tassy Teekman, Lucie Boissinot); Ballet Divertimento (Amélie Rajotte, Sonya Stefan, Chantale Desgroseillers, Kristen Céré, Eric Miles, Erin Flynn, Lea Ved, Zachary Tang, Ami Shulman, Marc Boivin, Belinda McGuire, Sasha Kleinplatz, Marie-Adeline Choquet, Laurence Rondeau-L'Écuyer, Audrey Bergeron, Rayco Cano Cortez, Yamandu Delgado); École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec (with Paco Ziel, Alisia Pobega, Louis-Martin Charest, David Rancourt, Hélène Melançon, Jane Mappin, Eric Miles, Paul Bertrand, Marc Boivin, Edgar Zendejas, Gioconda Barbuto); UQAM Dance Department (with Johanna Bienaise, Dominique Porte, France Bruyère, Sara Hanley, Jill Marving, Ginette Prévost, Sandrine Vachon, Jamie Wright, Kelly Keenan, Hélène Melançon, France Roy, Manon Levac, Anne LeBeau); Concordia University Dance Department (with Angélique Willkie, Isabelle Poirier, Sara Hanley, Caroline Laurin-Beaucage, Erin Flynn, Daniel Villeneuve, Kelly Keenan, Alanna Kraaijeveld, Marie-Claire Forté, Sophie Bretonne, Charles Koroneho - New Zealand); Cégep de Saint-Laurent Dance Department (with Véronique Dupuis, Caroline Cotton, Jean-François Légaré, Marianne Gignac-Girard); Springboard Danse Montréal (2012-2019/2022) with Ami Shulman; TransFormation Danse (Danse à la Carte) with Caroline Laurin-Beaucage; Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD)with Marianne Gignac-Girard and Gabrielle Surprenant-Lacasse (Compagnie Bouge De Là), Marc Boivin, Anne Thériault; Studio 303 (with Charles Koroneho - New Zealand); O Vertigo Creation Center (with Nadine Thouin, Catherine Viau, Jamie Wright, David Pressault, John Ottman); Sinha Danse (with Roger Sinha); Ballets Jazz de Montréal (with François Chirpaz, Cyrille de la Barre); Toronto Dance Theater (with Christopher House); Danse Danse/Martha Graham Dance Company (with Lloyd Knight); The School of Dance - Ottawa (with Nicolas Patry); and l'Académie Flamenca (flamenco dance, with Sarah Vincent, Paul Bertrand).
In 2010, he co-founded Métanimaurphoses, a show featuring contemporary dance, music and Amerindian storytelling, with dancer-choreographer Marie-Adeline Choquet, flutist Marie-Noëlle Choquette and Quebecois-Abenaki storyteller Sylvain Rivard (at La Sala Rossa). In 2009, he was part of the Collectif CréArt (music, dance, circus, theater, slam) for the 9th edition of the multidisciplinary show Solidarythmé, as part of the closing of La 10ième Semaine d'actions contre le racisme (at Théâtre Plaza).
In 2015, he co-founded the Gypsy Swing Dance Band (jazz-swing-blues) with Christine Tassan (acoustic/electric guitar), Lise-Anne Ross (acoustic guitar), Martine Gaumond (violin), Yvan Belleau (saxophone/clarinet) and Mathieu Royer (double bass), which performed at the swing dance school le Cat's Corner (2016), as well as at Théâtre Rialto (2015) for an audience of swing dancers. In 2012, he founded the Blue Gypsy Swing jazz quartet (gypsy jazz-swing-blues-r&b), with Christine Tassan (acoustic/electric guitar), Olivier Babaz (double bass/electric bass) and Anthony Lampron (piano/keyboards), which has performed at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (2013), Dièze Onze Jazz Club, Upstairs Jazz Bar, and Terrasse Jardin Botanique.
He has accompanied such Montreal artists as : Christine Tassan (a-c-i / jazz manouche); Michael Reinhart (a-c-i / folk-world); Auresia (a-c-i / reggae-world), Robin Gorn (a-c-i / folk-country-r&b-jazz); Laetitia Zonzambé (a-c-i / soul-r&b-funk-world); Popovik (a-c-i / pop-rock-polka-reggae-blues-funk); Dominique Desrosiers (a-c-i / pop-folk); Vivienne Deane (a-c-i / gospel-r&b-soul) with Tim Jackson (piano) and Skip Bey (double bass). He was a co-founding member of the Montreal pop-rock group SoulCirkus from 1990 to 1994 (CD: Love, Spear & Injection - 1992).
In 2018, he co-founded Projet FPPF Project with Philippe Fourneau, dedicated to musical composition for contemporary dance, circus and visual arts: (https://www.facebook.com/fppf.projet.9).
[email protected] / 514-736-1147 (rés.) / 514-572-2521 (cel.)