by MARITES CARINO

During the winter, there’s always an overwhelming choice of dance performances, so here’s a guide to some of the shows to keep on your radar in the upcoming months.

After a long absence, Margie Gillis is back on stage dancing solo with excerpts from a new work called A Stone’s Poem. This collaboration with choreographer Paola Styron was created during trips to Norway, the Yukon and Cortes Island, B.C., taking images and inspirations from the locations’ landscapes and using video projections to help get the feel across. Gillis builds her choreographic landscape at Agora de la Danse from Jan. 17–27.

Danse-Cité ignites 2007 with Treize Lunes, an improvised happening at the Monument-National that unites 20 dance and music professionals of different generations. Dance veterans like Louise Bédard and Daniel Soulières team up with emerging dance artists like Emmanuel Jouthe and Élinor Fueter for this music and movement jam that takes place Jan. 31–Feb. 3.

High Lights shines bright

The Montreal High Lights Festival is a February staple that warms up the winter with a lively array of dance (among other things), and this year is no exception. Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal celebrates its 35th birthday and opens the fest with two North American premieres. The first, Mapa, a commissioned piece by Brazilian choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras of Grupo-Corpo, is a tribute to composer Marco Antonio Pena Araujo, and the second piece is by Aszure Barton. I first got to know Barton’s creative and kinetic work at Montreal’s Fringe Fest in 2002, and since, Barton’s choreographic career has grown in leaps and bounds. Most notably, she scored an artist residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York. Watch for her Les Chambres des Jacques.

Another festival highlight to mark on your calendar is Men-Jaro by South African choreographer Vincent Mantsoe. Mantsoe returns to Montreal after his heartfelt performance at the 1999 Festival International de Nouvelle Danse, which won him the Prix de Peuple. Using traditional dance forms and spirituality, Mantsoe examines the tug-of-war that exists between traditional and modern life with the help of on-stage musicians. It runs Feb. 27–28—get the festival lowdown at montrealhighlights.com.

Since the last time we saw her was in 2004, you might be experiencing Louise Lecavalier withdrawal. If you are, you can finally get your fix this season. Lecavalier continues her previous collaboration with Tedd Robinson in Cobalt Rouge Remix, which is part of a triple-bill. During the evening, Lecavalier will also be performing “I” Is Memory, a solo by Benoît Lachambre and a new piece by choreographer Crystal Pite. It’s happening at the Centre Pierre-Péladeau Feb. 8–10.

As for international companies stopping in this winter, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is flying into town with a mixed program that features Ailey’s signature ballet Revelations. The group piece was first performed in 1960 and lit the spark that launched the company’s international reputation. The work, which incidentally was performed at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, is set to spiritual music and plays Feb. 22–24 at Place des Arts. Also, French choreographer Philippe Decouflé makes an appearance at Usine C with SOLO le doute m’habite, March 16–17.

La La La’s latest

Returning to local talent, O Vertigo artistic director Ginette Laurin has ropes and pulleys up her sleeve this season. Laurin plays with tension and experiments with the writings of Samuel Beckett in her Étude # 3 pour cordes et poulies March 8–10. The following week, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal offers a trio of works on March 15–24 by choreographers Christopher Wheeldon, Jirí Kylián and a new creation by the very visual Shen Wei. Then la-la-last but not least, wondering what Édouard Lock has been up to lately? After a world tour, he’s hit the studio and has been working on a new piece that revisits and deconstructs romantic ballets Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. La La La Human Steps’ new piece premieres April 26 at Place des Arts and is set for nine dancers and a quartet of musicians.