Françoise Riopelle (née Lespérance; 18 June 1927[1] – 18 July 2022) was a Canadian dancer and choreographer from Montreal.
[4] While in Paris, Riopelle studied modern dance and choreography before returning to Montreal in 1958.
[5] Riopelle is credited, along with Françoise Sullivan and Jeanne Renaud, as being the pioneers of modern dance in Quebec.
The school participated in the first International Week of Today's Music/Semaine internationale de musique actuelle, a festival of contemporary music and dance that was held in Montreal in 1961.
[4] Riopelle was one of two youngest signatories (with Thérèse Leduc) to the Refus Global, an anti-establishment manifesto published in 1948 by a group of Québécois artists and intellectuals closely associated with Les Automatistes.