This book is a journey into the heart of dance interpretation. Reflecting on his career, Jean-Christophe Paré invites us to follow the sensory paths that have shaped his dance movements. He recalls pivotal artistic encounters—with Carolyn Carlson, Merce Cunningham, François Verret, Lucinda Childs, Francine Lancelot, and many others—each a landscape where his movements became imbued with meaning and imagery. Exploring the inner-bodily life of the performing dancer, he describes its sensory atmospheres, energetic landscapes, emotional currents, and vibrant hues. In doing so, he turns his gaze to the very essence of the dance movement. Straddling sensitive reflection and analysis of dance movement and its memory, this book offers a unique immersion into the dancer’s experience—where the gesture takes shape before it becomes visible.
It was with the Ballet of the Opéra National de Paris that Jean-Christophe Paré started his career as a dancer-performer. Named Principal Dancer in 1984, he had as early as 1981 decided to stand up for the possibility to open new pathways of exploration in the work of interpretation at the Groupe de Recherche Chorégraphique of the Opéra de Paris. He has collaborated with many choreographers from currents as varied as modern dance (Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharps), American postmodern dance (Alwin Nikolaïs, Merce Cunningham, Andy de Groat, Lucinda Childs), young French dance (Dominique Bagouet, Régine Chopinot, Philippe Découflé, François Verret, Daniel Larrieu), German expressionist dance and, more recently, renaissance and baroque dances. These are references for him in the conception of educational projects which he conducts while directing the dance depart- ments of the École Nationale Supérieure de Danse in Marseille (2007-2011), then the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris (2014-2018).