Young Audience Choreography Training

Following her training at the National Centre of Contemporary Dance in Angers from 1987 to 1989, Marion Levy participated in choreographic creations by Claude Brumachon and Michelle-Anne de Mey, and met Philippe Découflé while working on the Bicentenary parade. From 1989 to 1996, she was part of the Rosas company, under the direction of Anne-Térésa de Keersmaeker, and toured the world : Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, USA, Russia , Spain and Portugal.

In 1997, Marion founded her company, Didascalie. She created pieces including L’Amusette pour le Bal Moderne at Théâtre National de Chaillot, Solo at Mont Saint-Aignan, as part of the October Festival in Normandy, Bakerfix, inspired by Josephine Baker’s memoirs alongside Arthur H presented both in France and Belgium, La Langue des Cygnes with Denis Lavant for the Villeneuve-sur-lot Festival, and Duophonie with Michael Lévinas for the opening of La Cité de la Musique in Strasbourg. She co-directed with Emmanuel Salinger the short-film I (Marion Solo). She collaborated in plays and films alongside Victor Gautier-Martin, Bérengère Bonvoisin, Jean-Paul Salomé, Pascal Rambert, Cécile Backès, Christian Schiaretti, Yolande Zauberman, Philippe Calvario, Yves Beaunesne, Thierry de Peretti, Yasmina Reza, James Thierrée, Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, Noémie Lvovsky, Julien Rappeneau and Emmanuel Bourdieu.

In addition, she taught at the Ménagerie de Verre and the Paris Conservatory of Drama and danced for Laurent Pelly in Rameau’s Platter at Opéra Garnier.

In 2005, she presented Phase 1 of En Somme ! at the Comédie de Reims, a project on the theme of sleep, and later in 2006, Phase 2 at the Centre du Sommeil in the Hôtel Dieu in Paris, Phase 3 at the Lutétia Hotel, and in May 2007, she presented a model at the Carré Scène Nationale de Château Gontier. The show was created at Théâtre National de Chaillot in January 2009. Following a tour in 2009 and 2010, it was reprised in November 2010 at Théâtre Silvia Montfort in Paris, and in January 2012 in Fukuoka and Tokyo, Japan.

In September 2009, she created Miss Electricity alongside Fabrice Melquiot as part of the sleepless night at the French Institute in Madrid.

In January 2012, she created Dans le ventre du loup at Théâtre National de Chaillot. The show, based on the story of the three little pigs fr children aged 6 on, features texts by Marion Aubert.

In July 2012, she created and performed the choreography L’Histoire du soldat at the Matsumoto Theatre in Japan.

In 2015, she created Et Juliette and Les Puissantes, in association with Mariette Navarro and Joachim Olaya.

In September 2017, she joined the teaching team of LAAC, a training created by Clairemarie Osta and Nicolas Le Riche at Théâtre des Champs Elysées.

In January 2019, she created Training, a burlesque solo, at the National Stage of Narbonne, and later at Carreau du Temple. The show is currently on tour.

In December 2019, she created Ma Mère L’Oye in collaboration with the Cannes Regional Orchestra of Cannes as part of the Cannes Dance Festival.

In 2021-2022, she created Et si tu danses, a piece for very young audiences, commissioned by the Odissey en Yvelines Festival, as well as Romeo, the male counterpart of Et Juliette.

She is the Artistic Director of a new artistic residence location in Pommerit-le- Vicomte (Côtes d'Armor) – Le Rebond – that she acquired in 2020.

Born in 1972, Olivier Letellier was trained at Jacques Lecoq International School before founding the company of Théâtre du Phare, in Champigny-sur-Marne. He has been an associate artist at Théâtre National de Chaillot, Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, Grand T in Nantes, La Filature – National Stage of Mulhouse and Théâtre de la Manufacture – National Dramatic Arts Centre of Nancy-Lorraine. In addition to his work as a director, he is involved in drama training programmes (EARCM) and works with apprentice circus performers (Académie Fratellini). He regularly collaborates with contemporary authors such as Rodrigue Norman, Daniel Danis, and Stéphane Jaubertie. He has initiated the project « stage writings for young audiences » with authors Catherine Verlaguet, Magali Mougel and Sylvain Levey. Un Furieux Désir de Bonheur, a creation for 7 performers, blends narrative drama, dance and circus.

In 2016, he created the opera Kalila wa Dimna by Moneim Adwan, commissioned by the Aix-en-Provence Lyrical Art Festival. He later adapted his show Oh Boy! In New York City. The Paris Orchestra commissioned him to direct Brundibar by Hans Krassá for its Children Choir at the Philharmonie in May 2019. He was appointed director of Les Tréteaux de France, a National Dramatic Arts Centre where he assumed his duties on July 1, 2022, succeeding Robin Renucci.

With his company, Le Théâtre du Phare, Olivier Le Tellier tells stories « through text, moving body, and everyday objects as symbols. By blending this hybrid language with other expression modes – circus, dance, sound creation, visual arts – we want to create images larger than words. »

Christine Fricker is a choreographer of the company Itinerrances and serves as the artistic director of Pôle 164, a creation centre dedicated to moulding and promoting choreographic art.

The company Itinerrances asserts its commitment to placing humans at the heart of its project, emphasising the importance of being influenced by experiences that address the role of the individual within the collective.

« I prioritise encounters with performers, giving fundamental importance to their personality, in search of a truth of body and presence. Being free to invent through a strong commitment on stage. I oscillate between theatricality and abstraction, choreographic writing and performative acts. I question all living things within the space of representation, the audience’s empathy, and the use of the past to invent the present.

My latest creations feed on the approaches of Post-Modern American artists. I increasingly use score-based writing which sheds light on personal choices and priorities the « how » over the « what », encouraging a non-judgemental creativity.

Collaborative projects enable me to create democratic communities of dancers of all ages, cultures, practices. I am the privileged witness and the trigger of creative momentum that nurtures my approach in turn. »

The desire for dissemination is a foundational element in the company’s work. It is the willingness to work for and with audiences that do not have an obvious connection to contemporary dance that drives this artistic approach.

The company offers a range of projects and shows for varied sorts of audiences, and works in schools, nurseries, social centres, and day care centres.

Nicole Bioagioli studied at Nice University. A Classics Academic (holder of the « Agrégation », a competitive exam in the French education system), she taught in secondary schools before lecturing in French Language and Literature at the University of Constantine (Algeria) for 9 years. She defended a state Doctorate in Linguistics on the « Semiotics of the flower » under the direction of Catherine Kerbrat-Orrechioni at the University of Lyon.

At the same time, she pursued training in creative writing which she used as a teacher, by integrating imagery and music. Appointed as a University Professor at the University Institute for Teacher Training (Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres) at Académie de Nice in 1993, she founded and directed the InterDidactics laboratory, specialising in the Didactics of Disciplines and Languages (I3DL).

She is a Professor Emeritus in Education Sciences at the Transdisciplinary Centre of research on the Epistemology of Literature and Performing Arts (CTELA) at the University of Côte d’Azur. She has dedicated her research to the learning of creativity in schools (innovation), universities (research-creation), extracurricular activities (museum) and in a professional environment (training).

« I love the fact that dance may venture anywhere, and above all, that it doesn’t stay put. »
Christophe Garcia grew up in a modest environment in Haute-Savoie, where pursuing a career in dance was far from obvious. According to family myth, as soon as he could stand on two legs, he never stopped dancing, before getting others to dance as well. Recognising his thirst for expressiveness, his mother enrolled him in a drama class, and later at the Conservatory of Dance in Annecy.

In 1996, he entered the highly selective Rudra Béjart workshop school. Those two years of multidisciplinary training alongside Maurice Béjart were a true revelation for him.The practice of drama, music and martial arts enriched his repertoire and he became accomplished in such a climate of permanent artistic excitement. In 1998, he was lucky enough to be engaged by the master himself and he joined the Béjart Ballet in Lausanne. Thus began a life consisting of companies and international tours. Alongside Maurice Béjart, Christophe Garia worked under the direction of illustrious directors including Robert Wilson and Robert Lepage.

As he was questioning his future, he began writing a solo entitled Alice. That is when he discovered the immense pleasure of choreographing and rekindled the inventiveness of his youth. Making others dance brings him joy. Maurice Béjart encouraged him to follow through by entrusting him with a carte blanche. Immediately after that, he created, at only 19, his own company – La Parenthèse – because it was a space open to every freedom.

For the past twenty years, La Parenthèse has been travelling the world, constantly exploring the infinite possibilities of dance, and winning several awards along the way. Christophe’s musical inclinations have led him to collaborate with major musical ensembles, including Les Arts Florissants ou l’Orchestre National des Pays-de-la-Loire.

Regularly reaching out to new audiences and spaces that are not dedicated to dance, his creations unfold on marble monuments, museums, countryside venues, arenas or within the plush alcoves of hotel rooms. Most projects are produced to fit the spaces they inhabit. Bringing dance out of theatres enables spectators to own the show, to discover an unprecedented closeness, to share with dancers, smells, warmth, a form of intimacy. The intimate, the quest for love, desire and sensuality are precisely at the heart of his latest creations : The Ambition to be Tender, Niebo Hotel, The Problem with Pink, and the upcoming Summer Nights. A theatre, music and literature lover, Christophe Garcia is willing to invite words and music on stage – inhabiting the text without merely illustrating it is part of the challenge. His upcoming creation Summer Nights lies at the crossroads of these paths.