After a trip to New York in which he discovered the work of Merce Cunningham, Lucinda Childs, Steve Paxton, Trisha Brown, Stuart Sherman and Yvonne Rainer, Jean-Claude Gallotta – with Mathilde Altaraz – founded the Émile Dubois Group in Grenoble in 1979, which, in 1981, joined the Grenoble Arts Centre as a dance creation unit. This was where Ulysse was born, a playful ballet using both classical and modern vocabularies.

The Émile Dubois Group became the National Choreographic Centre and took up Ulysse again in 1984 for the Olympic Games Festival in Los Angeles, the American Dance Festival, the Holland Festival and the Avignon Festival.

This was followed by: Les Aventures d’Ivan Vaffan, Les Louves and Pandora. In 1986, Jean-Claude Gallotta was asked to be the director of the Grenoble Arts Centre – renamed “Le Cargo” -, thereby becoming the first choreographer to be appointed to run this type of institution.

In 1987, the ballet Mammame was performed at the Montreal International Festival of New Dance: the Canadian press (dance and theatre) awarded him the prize for the Best Foreign Performance of the Year. In 1989, after some ten audiovisual collaborations with, for example, Claude Mouriéras and Raoul Ruiz, Jean-Claude Gallotta produced his first full-length film: Rei Dom – La Légende des Kreuls. This was followed by Docteur Labus and Les Mystères de Subal. 

Jean-Claude Gallotta then resigned as director of the Grenoble Arts Centre and published his first book, Mémoires d’un dictaphone.

During the 1991-1992 season, two choreographic creations combining dance, words and music were performed: La Légende de Roméo et Juliette, performed in November 1991 for the Albertville Olympic Arts Festival, and La Légende de Don Juan, performed in June 1992 for the Universal Exhibition in Seville, as a joint production with the Avignon Festival. Jean-Claude Gallotta then shot his second full-length film: l’Amour en deux.

1993: publication of Les Yeux qui dansent (interviews with Bernard Raffalli).
  In July of the same year, Jean-Claude Gallotta recreated Ulysse at the Châteauvallon Festival. This was followed by a long international tour.

1994: Prémonitions, a new choreography created in Grenoble. 1995: at the request of ‘Lyon Opéra Ballet’, Jean-Claude Gallotta composed La Solitude du danseur, four solos performed to music by Erik Satie. Gallotta then worked with Nicholas Hytner and Sir Charles Mackerras to produce La Petite Renarde Rusée, an opera by Leos Janacek, performed by the Théâtre du Châtelet.

At the Châteauvallon Festival, Jean-Claude Gallotta choreographed and performed the solo Hommage à Pavel Haas. In Grenoble, he created La Tête contre les fleurs for the company. This was followed in 1996 by Rue de Palanka, and in 1997, La Rue (an event for 3,000 spectators) and the creation of La Chamoule ou l’Art d’aimer.

A longstanding collaboration was set up with Japan, at the invitation of the director Tadashi Suzuki: from 1997 to 2000, Jean-Claude Gallotta ran the dance department at the new Shizuoka Performing Arts Centre, training and directing a permanent company of eight Japanese performers. In 1998, Jean-Claude Gallotta also directed Le Ventriloque by Jean-Marie Piemme and Le Catalogue by Jean-Bernard Pouy, and wrote Pierre Chatel for “l’Adieu au siècle”.

Jean-Claude Gallotta created Les Variations d’Ulysse for the Paris Opera Ballet, which was performed at the Opéra Bastille in 1995, and repeated in 1998. He also created Nosferatu in May 2002 to music by Pascal Dusapin; the ballet was performed again in spring 2006 at the Opéra Bastille.

In 1999, he created Presque Don Quichotte at the Douai Hippodrome; the piece was also performed in Shizuoka, Japan. In 2000, he created l’Incessante, a solo for Mathilde Altaraz, at the Avignon Festival as part of Le Vif du Sujet. In 2001, he created Les Larmes de Marco Polo for the Lyon International Biennial.

In 2002, he created 99 duos at the Chaillot National Theatre, the first part of a trilogy on ‘People’. In 2003, he prepared Trois générations for the Avignon Festival, which was eventually cancelled. The piece, which includes children, former dancers and the Company, was performed at the Rampe d’Echirolles in March 2004.

It was performed in May of the same year at the Chaillot National Theatre and was repeated in November 2005. The same year, he worked with the director Hans-Peter Cloos to produce a show combining dance, theatre and music, Les sept pechés capitaux by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. In 2006, he created Des Gens qui dansent, the third part of the trilogy initiated by 99 duos and Trois Générations and, in 2007, he repeated his flagship piece from the 80s, Ulysse, under the title Cher Ulysse.

In 2008, Bach danse experience with Mirella Giardelli and “L’Atelier des Musiciens du Louvre”; Armide by Lully with the conductor William Christie and the director Robert Carsen at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris; Chroniques chorégraphiques - season 1, a sort of “stage movie” that allowed him to pursue his poetic research into genres and people.

In 2009, he created l’Homme à tête de chou, with the original words and music by Serge Gainsbourg in a version recorded for the show by Alain Bashung. In April 2011, he performed a solo with Faut qu’je danse ! as a prelude to the recreation of his trio Daphnis é Chloé in Grenoble.

In October 2011, again in Grenoble and with a piece for thirteen dancers, he took on Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps, which he presented in April 2012 at the Chaillot National Theatre, Paris, along with Tumulte and Pour Igor in the first part.

At the end of 2012, he is to present Racheter la mort des gestes - Chroniques chorégraphiques 1 at the Théâtre de la Ville, then at MC2; in early 2013, his recreation of Yvan Vaffan (first performed in 1984) will enable him to continue his work on the repertoire, alternating with his creations and thereby pleading for a certain “continuity in art” and seeking patiently to share with his audience the same story: the story of a shared artistic history and future.

In October 2013, he directed the singer Olivia Ruiz in El Amor Brujo byManuel de Falla, a piece presented together with Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, a show on which he worked together with the conductor Marc Minkowski and the director Jacques Osinski.

For the 2014-15 season, he presented The Rite and its Revolutions (including the first performance of Xenakis’s Jonchaies and Six Pieces for Orchestra, op. 6 by Webern (Homage to Angela Davis) at the Philharmonie de Paris, and in June he gave the first performance of The Stranger, based on the novel by Albert Camus at the MC2 in Grenoble.

He is opening the 2015-2016 season with My Rock at the MC2 in Grenoble, and at the Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris.

In 2009, he adapted Serge Gainsbourg's album l'Homme à tête de chou (performed for the occasion by Alain Bashung), created with singer Olivia Ruiz, Volver, presented in 2016 at the Biennale de la danse de Lyon; he also worked on rock figures with My Rock (2004) then My Ladies Rock (2017). In September 2017, the Adami, Maison des artistes interprètes and the Théâtre du Rond-Point gave him carte blanche to stage two exceptional evenings around the work of Bob Dylan, with performers from all disciplines, including the group Moriarty.

Since the end of 2015, Jean-Claude Gallotta has been associate author at the Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris. The Groupe Émile Dubois is housed at the MC2: Grenoble.

In September 2018, he presented Comme un trio, based on Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan, and the re-creation of l'Homme à tête de chou at the Printemps de Bourges festival in April 2019. He is preparing a new creation for the autumn of 2020, entitled Le Jour se rêve, with musician Rodolphe Burger and visual artist Dominique-Gonzalez Foerster.

More information : www.gallotta-danse.com

Born in 1972, Olivier Dubois created his first solo “Under Cover” in 1999. In 2005, he performed the duet “Féroces” with Christine Corday for the Théâtre de l'Esplanade, St Etienne. The SACD (Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers) and the Avignon Festival invited him to compose a piece in 2006 in the context of “Vif du Sujet”, “Pour tout l'or du monde”.

In 2006 and 2007 he composed the first two parts of the Bdanse project: “En Sourdine” and “Peter Pan”. He has taught and led numerous workshops for companies and schools abroad. In June 2007 he was awarded the special jury prize by the Syndicat Professionnel de la Critique (Professional Critic's Union for theatre, music and dance), for his achievements as a performer and for “Pour tout l'or du monde”. He presented his new creation “Faune(s)” in 2008 at the Avignon Festival. At the ImpulsTanz Festival in 2008 in Vienna (Austria), he was awarded the Jardin d'Europe prize. In January 2009 he choreographed Offenbach's “La Périchole”, directed by Bérangère Jannelle at the Lille Opera.

He also held an exhibition in 2009, “L'interprète dévisagé”, at the Centre National de la Danse and in November 2009 he premièred “Révolution”, a piece for 14 female dancers set to variations on Ravel's Boléro. The Ballet Monte-Carlo commissioned a piece from him based on “Le Spectre de la Rose” for April 2010. He has performed for many choreographers and directors (Sasha Waltz, Nasser Martin-Gousset, Dominique Boivin, Jan Fabre, Emilio Calcagno, Charles Cré-Ange, Angelin Preljocaj, Karine Saporta, Elio Gervasi, Andy Degroat, Laura Simi...).

Sources : Biennale de la Danse press file ; the Company Olivier Dubois 's website

More information : sites.google.com/site/olivierduboiscod

David Wampach trained with the company Coline in Istres (99), CCN de Montpellier (00) and P.A.R.T.S./Bruxelles (01). He has worked with Anne Lopez, Thierry Baë, Christian Bourigault, Mitia Fedotenko, Mathilde Monnier, Julie Brochen, Odile Duboc, João Fiadeiro, Alain Michard, Catherine Contour, Christian Rizzo.

He started his personal work with his inscription in the Association Achles and he created the pieces :
- lambda if I include myself, kappa the piece itself (2001), performance for 10 dancers, created in Brussels,
- D ES R A (2003), a duo created with Pierre Mourles,
- circon c is (2004), laureate of the Solo Mio competition and laureate of the Biennale Festival of young creators from Europe and the Mediterranean (Naples),
- BASCULE (2005), trio created for the Printemps de Septembre / Soirées Nomades at Fondation Cartier / CDC Toulouse,
- QUATORZE (2007), quatuor created for the Montpellier Danse Festival,
- AUTO (2008), duet, created for the Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis,
- BATTERIE (2008), performance for a dancer and a drummer, premiered at the Accès(s) festival in Pau,
- BATTEMENT (2009), trio created during the SKITe/Sweet & Tender Collaborations in Porto,
- ECRAN (2010) created with the author Jérôme Game for the ActOral festival,
- CASSETTE (2010), performance for 8 performers, premiered at Scène Nationale d'Alès.
David Wampach presented SACRE for the Montpellier Danse 2011 festival in June, before leaving for Kyôto, Japan, as laureate of Villa Kujoyama.

Etienne Aussel is a director of documentary films, multi-camera recordings, dance films. Videographer for performing arts and digital arts, he directs audiovisual projects. Trained as a shooting operator, he entered professional life in 1999 through contemporary dance and until 2008 worked as a video collaborator with choreographers José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu on creations and international tours of shows (Paradis, Babelle Heureuse, On danƒe, Les Paladins, Porgy and Bess).
Tour de Babelle A first documentary on dance of which he is the author was broadcast in 2004 on the Mezzo channel.
In 2009 he followed the training course in documentary cinema at the Ateliers Varan in Paris.
Two of his films made in French-speaking West Africa, Mowa and Autour de Tassiga, are distributed by Éditions l'Harmattan.
Between 2013 and 2015, he directed with Valérie Gabail the film SACRES, a feature documentary in official competition at FIPADOC in Biarritz and awarded at various international festivals.
He collaborates in video with artists such as the painter Guy Oberson, the choreographers Nasser Martin-Gousset, Aïcha M'Barek and Hafiz Dhaou, or the Nobel Prize for Literature Gao Xingjian whose latest feature film Le Deuil de la beauté is edited. .
In 2012 and 2016, he co-signed with choreographer Claire Jenny the staging of two pieces: Effigies, interactive video installations and performances broadcast at the National Center for Dance in Pantin, at the Abbaye de Noirlac and Echo, a piece choreography for 5 dancers (shown at the Atelier de Paris, at the CDA d'Enghien-les-Bains, at the Théâtre de Vitry)
At the same time, he teaches video creation for live shows at the 3IS film school and edits 52-minute films for various production companies. Holder of a Master 2 D2A in Law, Economics and Audiovisual Management and 2017, he is involved as assistant to the coordination and in the selection committee of the International Documentary Film Festival Après Varan for the edition 2019.
He works regularly as a director or chief editor at the Théâtre National de la Danse - Chaillot, at the CN D Cinémathèque de la danse or at the Atelier de Paris - CDCN, with the production companies 24 Images and Films d'un jour / OPSIS TV.

Personal website with extracts of his achievements: etienneaussel.wixsite.com