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Foofwa d'Imobilité

Lives in Geneva, Switzerland and Brooklyn, NY

Born 1969, Geneva, Switzerland

Dancer/Choreographer

My work in choreography has had me dancerunning through the streets of Cairo, counting votes of the audience as they chose the outcome of a dance and using my face to animate a Francis Bacon painting.

I am interested in finding the appropriate form in order to express a particular concept, and as a result, my pieces are very different in look and structure. I try to find an unexplored angle, and through reading, research and observation, express a unique point of view. I use various corporeal and theatrical modes, and therefore my work has been referred to as pure dance, theatrical dance, experimental theater, performance art, mime and even stand-up comedy. It is my attempt to freely combine those disparate elements in indoor and outdoor settings, and in solos and group pieces, to create a dance-going experience that escapes strict categorization.

I tend to be drawn to the following four topics: the onstage verbal and corporeal discourse on dance analysis and dance history, the embodiment of digital movements that exist in our media-driven society, the relationship between art and the public and, in the dancerun series, the analysis of similarities and differences between the worlds of dance and sport.

Self-taught

2000- Artistic Director, Neopost Ahrrrt

1991-1998 Dancer, Merce Cunningham Dance Company

1987-1990 Dancer, Stuttgart Ballet

SELECTED WORKS

2008 The Making of Spectacles, premiered in Geneva, Switzerland; also performed in Chiasso, Zurich and Bern, Switzerland

2006 Incidences, premiered in Geneva, Switzerland; also performed in Lausanne, Switzerland

2005 Benjamin de Bouillis, premiered in Geneva, Switzerland; also performed in Paris and Lyon, France; Zurich and Bern, Switzerland; Catania and Bologna, Italy; New York, NY

2003 Kilometrix.dancerun.4, premiered in Lille-Roubaix, France; also performed in Paris and Lyon, France; Cairo, Egypt; Bologna, Italy; Zurich and Bern, Switzerland

2003 Match.dancerun.6, commissioned by the Nederlands Dans Theater II; performed in various cities, Switzerland

2001 Le Show, premiered in Roubaix, France; also performed in Paris, France; Valencia, Spain; Venice, Italy; Geneva, Switzerland

1999 Terpsicorp. premiered in Hellerau, Germany; also performed in Paris, France; Cologne, Germany; Bucarest, Romania; Budapest, Hungary; Luzern, Switzerland

1998 Iuj Godog? premiered in Brussels, Belgium; also performed in Geneva, Switzerland; Paris, France; New York, NY

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

2006 Swiss Prize of Dance and Choreography

1999 Grantee, Fondation Leenaards, Switzerland

1995 New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award for Exceptional Artistry in the work of Merce Cunningham

1987 Prix Professionnel at the Prix de Lausanne, Switzerland

1986 Bronze Medal, International Dance Competition, Jackson, MS

Year Awarded 2009
CategoryDance
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