Dominique Dupuy (dancer)

Dominique Dupuy
Born 31 October 1930 (1930-10-31) (age 87)
Paris, France
Occupation Dancer, choreographer, author
Spouse(s) Francoise Dupuy
Relatives Marcel Michaud (father-in-law)

Dominique Dupuy (born 1930) is a French dancer and choreographer of modern dance. He is best known as a pioneer of modern dance in France. Additionally, he runs a choreographic centre as well as an annual dance festival in Provence.

Biography

Early life

Dominique Dupuy was born on 31 October 1930 in Paris.[1][2] He was first trained as an eight-year-old by choreographer Jean Weidt and later by Doryta Brown.[2] He was then trained by the American choreographer Jerome Andrews.[3][4] During the Second World War, he left Paris for rural France, and he learned how to act.[2] Shortly after the war, he resumed lessons with Weidt, and took lessons in classical dance with Olga Preobrajenska, Nicolas Zverev, and Merce Cunningham.[1][2][5] Additionally, he took more acting lessons with Charles Dullin and Marcel Marceau.[2]

Career

He started his career as a dancer for his former teacher, Jean Weidt, where he met his future wife.[2] Shortly afterwards, as Weidt returned to Germany, he established a dance company with his wife called Les Ballets Modernes de Paris.[1][2][6] Together, they have choreographed many dance performances.[2] Their dances have been inspired by Vaslav Nijinsky, Deryk Mendel, Michel Fokine and Régine Chopinot.[5] One of their main dancers has been José Montalvo.[7]

Later, they also established the Mas de la danse, a choreographic center in Fontvieille, Bouches-du-Rhône, in the South of France.[5] On top of dance performances, they also organize conferences on dance open to the public. Additionally, they established the annual Les Baux-de-Provence Dance Festival in Les Baux-de-Provence.[5]

He has also taught dance and practised as a choreographer on his own. For example, he served as the Director of the Dance Department at the Institute of Musical and Choreographic Pedagogy from 1991 to 1995.[1] More recently, in 2012-2013, he choreographed Act Without Words I and Act Without Words II, two short plays by Samuel Beckett.[8] The first one was performed at the Théâtre national de Chaillot in Paris.[8]

He has been called a pioneer of modern dance in France.[5]

Personal life

He has been married to Francoise Dupuy, the daughter of art critic Marcel Michaud (1898-1958), and also a dancer, since 1951.[1][2][5] They met during a dance class taught by Jean Weidt.[5]

Dances

  • En pure perte (1969)
  • Cercle dans tous ses états (1978)
  • En vol (1983)
  • L'Homme debout, il... (1995)
  • Opus 67-97 (1997)
  • L'Estran (2005)
  • Le Regard par-dessus le col (2007)
  • Acte sans paroles I (2011)
  • Acte sans paroles II (2014)

Bibliography

  • Dominique Dupuy, Frédéric Pouillaude, Daniel Dobbels, Claude Rabant. Danse et politique. Démarche artistique et contexte historique (Centre national de la danse, 2003).
  • Dominique Dupuy. Quant à la danse (2004).
  • Dominique Dupuy. La Sagesse du danseur (Jean-Claude Béhar, 2005).
  • Dominique Dupuy. Danse contemporaine: pratique et théorie Marsyas, écrits pour la danse. (Images en manœuvres, 2008).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Debra Craine, Judith Mackrell, The Oxford Dictionary of Dance, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 145
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Jacqueline Robinson, Modern Dance in France (1920-1970): An Adventure, Routledge, 2013, pp. 200-232
  3. Jerome Andrews; American Pioneer of Modern Dance, The Los Angeles Times, October 27, 1992
  4. Jerome Andrews, Variety, November 11, 1992
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dominique et Françoise Dupuy, Arte, March 25, 2006
  6. Andree Grau (ed.), Stephanie Jordan (ed.), Europe Dancing: Perspectives on Theatre, Dance, and Cultural Identity, Routledge, 2002, p. 29
  7. DLB: José Montalvo
  8. 1 2 Samuel Beckett / Dominique Dupuy: Acte sans paroles I, Théâtre national de Chaillot
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