Live broadcasted from the stage of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon, Carolyn Carlson gave a master class to the dancers of her company and to students of the CNSMD in Lyon, Wednesday, November 17th.

Source: Maison de la danse

California-born Carolyn Carlson defines herself first and foremost as a nomad. From San Francisco Bay to the University of Utah, from the Alwin Nikolais company in New York to Anne Béranger’s in France, from Paris Opera Ballet to Teatrodanza La Fenice in Venice, from the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris to Helsinki, from Ballet Cullberg to La Cartoucherie in Paris, from the Venice Biennale to Roubaix, Carlson is a tireless traveller, always seeking to develop and share her poetic universe.

She arrived in France in 1971 the beneficiary of Alwin Nikolais’s ideas about movement, composition and teaching. The following year, with Rituel pour un rêve mort, she wrote a poetic manifesto that defined an approach to her work that she has adhered to ever since: dance that is strongly oriented towards philosophy and spirituality. Carlson prefers the term ‘visual poetry’ to ‘choreography’ to describe her work. She creates works that express her poetic thoughts and a form of complete art within which movement occupies a special place. 

For four decades, Carlson has had significant influence and success in many European countries. She played a key role in the birth of French and Italian contemporary dance through the GRTOP (theatre research group) at Paris Opera Ballet and Teatrodanza at La Fenice.

She has created over 100 pieces, a large number of which are landmarks in the history of dance, including Density 21.5, The Year of the Horse, Blue Lady, Steppe, Maa, Signes, Writings on Water and Inanna. In 2006, her work was rewarded with the first ever Golden Lion given to a choreographer by the Venice Biennale.

Nowadays, Carolyn Carlson is director of two organisations: the Atelier de Paris-Carolyn Carlson, an international centre for masterclasses, residencies and creating new works, which she founded in 1999 and the National Choreographic Centre Roubaix Nord-Pas de Calais until December 2013, which produces and tours shows all over the world.

More information: en.carolyn-carlson.com

Born in 1977, Fabien Plasson is a video director specialized in the field of performing arts (dance , music, etc).

During his studies at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (joined in 1995) Fabien discovered video art. He was trained by various video artists (Joel Bartoloméo Pascal Nottoli , Eric Duyckaerts , etc).
He first experimented with the creation of installations and cinematic objects.

From 2001 to 2011, he was in charge of Ginger & Fred video Bar’s programming at La Maison de la Danse in Lyon. He discovered the choreographic field and the importance of this medium in the dissemination, mediation and pedagogical approach to dance alongside Charles Picq, who was a brilliant video director and the director of the video department at that time.

Today, Fabien Plasson is the video director at La Maison de la Danse and in charge of the video section of Numeridanse.tv, an online international  video library, and continues his creative activities, making videos of concerts, performances and also creating video sets for live performances.

Sources: Maison de la Danse ; Fabien Plasson website

More information: fabione.fr

Artistic Direction: Carolyn Carlson

Creation: 2014 

Recognised for her talents as a choreographer, Carolyn Carlson is equally a “group leader”, gathering around herself the personalities who nourish her poetic world. Her creations are the fruit of exchanges with performers which she chooses primarily for their distinctiveness and their capacity to commit to a composition process based on improvisation techniques. Today, the Carolyn Carlson Company consists of a group of dancers who come together in various combinations, depending on the work or project.

Dancers Constantine Baecher, Ismaera Takeo Ishii, Chinatsu Kosakatani, Juha Marsalo,  Celine Maufroid, Riccardo Meneghini, Isida Micani,  Yutaka Nakata, Alexis Ochin, Sara Orselli, Sara Simeoni

“The Carolyn Carlson Company is a hive of activity, an area of creativity and freedom in which intertwine gesture and poetic thought...”

January 2014: after nine years as director of the CCN de Roubaix Nord-Pas de Calais, Carolyn Carlson returns to Paris and funds her company, the Carolyn Carlson Company (CCCy), in residency at the Théâtre National de Chaillot from 2014 to 2016.

With a unique repertory and accompanied by dancers true to her poetical gesture, Carolyn pursues her creative process: each year, the Carolyn Carlson Company carries out at least two large scale projects, a creation and the transmission of repertoire pieces to the most prestigious international ballets, while continuing touring the choreographers’ creations worldwide.

More information : carolyn-carlson.com