Russell Maliphant est un chorégraphe atypique. Danseur d¹origine canadienne et de formation classique, il intègre le London Royal Ballet, qu'il quitte en 1989. Il monte sa propre compagnie en 1996 et s'oriente alors vers une danse contemporaine au sein de laquelle il travaille au mariage du mouvement et de la lumière. Pour ce faire, il collabore avec un éclairagiste exceptionnel : Michael Hulls.

Le Projet Rodin est plus qu¹un hommage. Russell Maliphant explique : « Je veux utiliser [les aquarelles et les sculptures de Rodin] comme point de départ, divisant la pièce en deux sections : les dessins et les sculptures. Mais sans faire du Rodin en scène littéralement. C¹est bien l¹énergie de ses formes, les torsions qui m'inspirent. Je pense qu'il y a un sens du mouvement dans la force du sculpteur, que l¹on peut capturer. Et au lieu de rendre en deux dimensions, la danse le peut en trois ».

Russell Maliphant, qui a notamment enthousiasmé le grand public avec AfterLight, son spectacle hommage à Nijinski, explique trouver un lien entre le danseur et l¹artiste, « quelque chose d'éminemment sculptural dans sa gestuelle ». Ce lien, Rodin, qui était fasciné par la danse lui-même l'avait vu. Après avoir été ébloui par sa prestation dans le Prélude à l'après-midi d'un Faune de Debussy, il l'avait sculpté dans une posture gracile et aérienne.

Russell Maliphant trained at The Royal Ballet School and graduated into Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet before leaving to pursue a career in independent dance. He danced with DV8, Michael Clark, Rosemary Butcher and Laurie Booth – with whom he was awarded a Time Out Live Award for ‘raising improvisational dance to new heights’. From 1991–1994 Maliphant studied anatomy, physiology and biomechanics, and qualified as a practitioner of the Rolf Method of Structural Integration (or Rolfing) in 1994. These studies inform both his teaching and choreographic work, along with a diverse range of body practices and techniques including classical ballet, contact improvisation, yoga, capoeira and tai chi. Since 1994 he has collaborated closely with lighting designer Michael Hulls, evolving a language where movement and light are intimately connected and the meeting point becomes a new language in itself. In 2010 he began to collaborate with the animator Jan Urbanowski, He formed Russell Maliphant Company in 1996 and has also worked with renowned companies and artists including Sylvie Guillem, Robert Lepage, Isaac Julian, BalletBoyz and Lyon Opera Ballet. At the end of that year he created « Broken Fall ».

Broken Fall was restaged in 2004 as part of the programme Rise and Fall, an evening comprising of three of Maliphant’s works. In 2005 Sylvie Guillem invited Maliphant to create an evening of work for them both, culminating in the duet « PUSH », which premiered at Sadler’s Wells. « PUSH » has since toured throughout the world and continues to do so. Its creation was followed by two artistically diverse collaborations: « Cast No Shadow » with visual artist Isaac Julien, and « Eonnagata », which was created and performed with theatre director Robert Lepage and Sylvie Guillem.

In 2009 Maliphant created part one of « Afterlight » for In the Spirit of Diaghilev, Sadler’s Wells’ celebration of Les Ballets Russes. Parts two and three of "Afterlight" followed and toured as a full evening together with part one. His next company work, "The Rodin Project", opened at Theatre National de Chaillot in Paris at the end of January 2012 before touring the UK, Europe and the USA and was adapted for film, in collaboration with the directors Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones, re-titled « Erebus ». In 2013 Maliphant created « Fallen » for the BalletBoyz, and three pieces for his own company in the new "Still Current" evening. Also in 2013 he choreographed commercials for Lexus, Audi and Spotify. In 2014 Maliphant choreographed « Spiral Pass » for Bayerisches Staatsballett and "Second Breath" for English National Ballet. "Conceal | Reveal" is a program created in 2016 in collaboration with creator light Michael Hulls, including "Broken Fall" and two new creations: a solo, "both, and", created for the ex-star dancer of the Royal Ballet Dana Fouras, and a quintet entitled "Piece No. 43". He created in 2016, with lighting designer Michael Hulls, the  program "Conceal | Reveal", including "Broken Fall" and two new pieces: a solo, "both, and", created for the ex-star dancer of the Royal Ballet Dana Fouras, and a quintet entitled "Piece No. 43".

Source : Maison de la Danse - show program 2016

More information : russellmaliphant.com

After studies of mathematics preparatory class and medecine studies, Luc Riolon begins to make films within the framework of his Faculty of Medicine, then met the famous choreographers of the 80s (Maguy Marin, Mark Tompkins, Josef Nadj, Daniel Larrieu Daniel, Odile Duboc, Josette Baiz, Angelin Prljocaj, etc.) with whom he shoots numerous films (re-creation for the camera, the illegal securements). In the 80s with the American choreographer Mark Tompkins he introduces the video on the stage, broadcasting live on big screens the images which he shoots with his camera by being on the stage with the dancers, mixing live images and pre-recorded images. With Daniel Larrieu he participates in the creation of the famous show WATERPROOF, the contemporary choreography which takes place in a swimming pool, by filming live) the dancers dancing in the water and mixing the live images with pre-recorded underwater images. This choreography has been shown in many countries (USA, Canada, Spain, England…)
Then he collaborates during 10 years with the famous french TV producer Eve Ruggieri for her programs" Musics in the heart ". He shoots with her of numerous documentaries about classical music, opera singers and dance. From 1999 he directs documentaries of scientific popularization, by following researchers attached to the resolution of a particular ecologic enigma. These two artistic and scientific domains which can seem separated are nevertheless, for Luc Riolon, connected by the same approach : the deep desire to understand the world, by the art or by the scientific research, and to restore it to the largest number. Among his recent scientific documentaries, we can quote for example " The Enigma of the Black Caiman ", Living and dying in the swamp " or " The Nile delta: The end of the miracle ". “Chernobyl, a natural history ? “ These documentaries of scientific popularization recently have been awarded in international festivals.

Source: Vimeo