François Chaignaud

Born in Rennes, François Chaignaud studied dance from the age of six. He earned a diploma in 2003 from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Danse de Paris, he collaborates soon after with several choreographers, such as Boris Charmatz, Emmanuelle Huynh, Alain Buffard and Gilles Jobin.

From He’s One that Goes to Sea for Nothing but to Make him sick (2004) to Думи мої – Dumy Moyi (2013), he has created performances in which dance and singing intersect, in a wide variety of environments and at the meeting points of many inspirations. From this tension, the possibility of a body takes shape, inhabiting the space between the sensual rigour of movement, the evocative power of singing, and the convergence of heterogeneous historical references – from erotic literature to sacred art.

Also a historian, François Chaignaud publishes “L’Affaire Berger-Levrault: le féminisme à l’épreuve (1898-1905)” with PUR. His curiosity for history has driven him to initiate various collaborations, notably with legendary drag queen Rumi Missabu of the Cockettes, cabaret performer Jérôme Marin (Sous l’ombrelle, 2011), artist Marie-Caroline Hominal (Duchesses, 2009), fashion designers Romain Brau and Charlie Le Mindu, visual artist Théo Mercier (Radio Vinci Park, 2016), photographer Donatien Veismann and videast Cesar Vayssié. In collaboration with artist Nino Laisné, he has created a new piece entitled Romances Inciertos : Un autre Orlando, bringing together four instrumentalists around various ambiguous motifs of genre from the choreographic and vocal Iberian repertoire. He is currently doing research on the Antique Christian song repertoire as well as Hildegard Von Bingen pieces in collaboration with Marie-Pierre Brébant. He is also creating a piece for the Carte Blanche Ballet (Norway) in collaboration with Romain Brau, to be premiered in May 2018.