François Chaignaud
For this constellation-like format Portrait, the choreographer François Chaignaud brings audiences a series of pieces written via collaborative process, in which he pits his body against other forms of knowledge, rhythms, and imaginary worlds. The diffrerent works have come about in response to various encounters and their contrasting aesthtics, such as with the artist Théo Mercier, Butoh dancer Akaji Maro, the dancer and artist Cecilia Bengolea, beatboxer Aymeric Hainaux, the harpsichordist Marie-Pierre Brébant, and the artist and musician Nina Laisné. This multi-format corpus of work, an affiramtion of the power of the minor and hybridisation, unfurls an artisitc prohect which plunges deep into the roots of a myriad of cultures, whilst affirming the radical eqaulity of the gesture itself and song. From underground car-parks to broad stages, balletic pointes to the steps of baroque dances, and South American laments to Medieval plainchant, François Chaignaud unravels the thread of dominant narratives in order to render audible the accents of a very different music, one which is celestial and wild.
A 2003 graduate of the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris, François Chaignaud has danced for numerous choreographers, including Alain Buffard, Boris Charmatz, Emmanuelle Huynh and Gilles Jobin. Since his first piece in 2004, he defines dance as a global expression, his work being characterized by the articulation of song and dance, but also by an in-depth relationship with history, both in his creations and in his collaborations (with Jérôme Marin and Théo Mercier, among others). From 2005 to 2016, he created several shows with Cecilia Bengolea that were presented internationally. In 2021, he founded Mandorle Productions, affirming an artistic approach based on cooperation with numerous artists, including Nina Laisné, Marie-Pierre Brébant, Akaji Maro and Dominique Brun. He also creates pieces for large groups of performers, Soufflette in 2018 for the Carte Blanche company, and t u m u l u s with Geoffroy Jourdain and Les Cris de Paris in 2022. He is an associate artist at Bonlieu, Scène nationale d'Annecy, at Chaillot - Théâtre national de la Danse in Paris, as well as at Maison de la Danse and the Lyon Dance Biennial. Since 2011, his work has been presented at the Festival d'Automne.
“Dance isn't only self-expression, it's also about asking ourselves: how can we allow the world to come into us?”
Cet automne
François Chaignaud au Festival d'Automne