Philippe Decouflé
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Philippe Decouflé (born 22 October 1961) is a French
choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...
,
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
r,
mime artist A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...
, and
theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
."Philippe Decoufle: the unclassifiable choreographer"
Virginie Oks, France Diplomatie
As a child he travelled extensively around
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
and
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
before learning his skills as a teenager at the
Annie Fratellini Annie Violette Fratellini (14 November 1932 – 1 July 1997) was a French circus artist, singer, film actress and clown. Biography She was born Annie Violette Fratellini on 14 November 1932, in Algiers, French Algeria French Algeria ( un ...
''École du Cirque'' and the Marceau Mime School."Philippe Decouflé:Just doing his own thing"
, Patricia Boccadoro, ''Culture Kiosque'', June 3, 1999
While frequenting
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
ienne
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
s he discovered and was attracted to
contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of Concert dance, dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly stron ...
, and he eventually moved to the ''Centre National de la Danse Contemporaine'' in
Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...
to study under choreographer Alwin Nicolais."Philippe Decouflé"
Thomas Hahn, ''Ballet International Actual Dance''
After briefly working as a solo dancer, he formed the Découflé Company of Arts in
Bagnolet Bagnolet () is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. History On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occa ...
in 1983, moving it to a former electrical works in the Parisienne
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
of Saint-Denis in 1995. He has worked for the Lyon Opera Ballet, and he choreographed the
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for New Order's " True Faith" and
Fine Young Cannibals Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham, West Midlands, in 1984 by former The Beat band bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox with singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their self-titled ...
' "
She Drives Me Crazy "She Drives Me Crazy" is a song by British group Fine Young Cannibals, released in 1988 by London Records as the first single from their second and final album, '' The Raw & the Cooked'' (1989). The song was written by the group's frontman Ro ...
". The former won the "Best Music Video" prize at the 1988 BRIT Awards,The BRIT Awards 1988
, BRIT Awards official site
while his
advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
for Polaroid won a "Silver Lion" prize at the 1989
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
. On the back of these successes, he was selected to choreograph the opening and closing ceremonies of the
1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...
in front of a global television audience of over two billion people, the 50th anniversary
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
in 1997, and a parade for the
2007 Rugby Union World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the World Rugby, International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the W ...
in Saint-Denis in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Decouflé is the writer and director of the
Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...
show '' Iris''. Decouflé is also the director of the Cirque du Soleil show '' Paramour'' which debuted in 2016 in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Scenes from ''Iris'' were incorporated into ''Paramour''.


Decorations

* Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (2015)


References


External links


Compagnie DCA
official site * *
Philippe DeCouflé textuel
by Rosita Boisseau {{DEFAULTSORT:Decoufle, Philippe 1961 births People from Neuilly-sur-Seine French choreographers French male dancers French film directors French theatre directors Living people French male writers Cirque du Soleil French mimes Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres