Atelier refers to my pedagogical proposal, which comes from a long career as a professional dancer and as an independent creator. It also honors the studio as a place of experimentation and craft creation. For me, the dance studio is like a workshop where we learn, practice and improve our technique / crafts(wo)manship in order to find a creative identity.
As I have observed new generations of dancers in my teaching and performance experience, I have realized that new performers are changing their relationship to the body and the motivations that drive their movement. I have been accumulating knowledge from artists such as Pina Bausch, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Malou Airaudo, Cristiane Boullosa, Dominique Mercy and Francesc Bravo – to name a few. It is now my goal, as a teaching artist, to transmit this wide range of experiences to future generations of dancers. My desire is never to cling to what I know, but to find new ways to communicate what I have learned and add a spark of myself to future artists. My goal is to maintain a connection between Western dance techniques, which continue to shape contemporary dance today, and simultaneously further my development of my work as a dance facilitator. I will continue to explore my pedagogical and choreographic methods to bring them into a mutual exchange all over the world.
Technique, composition and movement research
In my methodology, I propose a work based on compositional factors of dance, according to the dancer, choreographer and pedagogue Jean Cébron (1927-2019): Energy, Form, Space and Rhythm.
The Jooss-Leeder method inspires much of my class. Respecting the different needs and circumstances of the group, I focus on breathing, repetition and opposing directional forces.
At the end of the training, we conclude with a sequence containing the information studied during the session. Afterwards, composition and improvisation exercises open a dialogue with each performer in the space.
I seek to connect them with their unique personal expression and their creative potential which is often beyond their physical aptitudes. With these premises, there will be work and room through play and pleasure. Participants will connect with authenticity but also confront their insecurities and develop a greater awareness of their limits in order to overcome them.
Thus, through guidelines and keywords, the group will explore a resilient, open and autonomous way of thinking about creativity. An invitation to self-reliance, but also to a collective process of discovery, questioning and expansion.