Philippe Decouflé (born October 22, 1961) is a French

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

mime artist A mime artist, or simply mime (from 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 theatrical medium ...

, 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 ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

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, where her parents, who w ...

''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 and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

ienne

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s he discovered and was attracted to

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of 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 strong popularity in ...

, 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 prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

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 commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, a small part of the commune o ...

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, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

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 of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for New Order's " True Faith" and

Fine Young Cannibals Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) was a British pop rock band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1984, by bassist David Steele (musician), David Steele, guitarist Andy Cox (both formerly of The Beat (British band), The Beat), and singer Roland Gift (fo ...

' "

She Drives Me Crazy "She Drives Me Crazy" is a song by English group Fine Young Cannibals, released in 1988 as the first single from their second and final album, '' The Raw & the Cooked'' (1989). Peaking at No. 5 on the British singles chart in January 1989, it ...

". The former won the "Best Music Video" prize at the 1988

BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

,The BRIT Awards 1988
, BRIT Awards official site while his

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

for

Polaroid Polaroid may refer to: * Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras * Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation * Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs * Polar ...

won a "Silver Lion" prize at the 1989

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. On the back of these successes, he was selected to choreograph the opening and closing ceremonies of the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

in front of a global television audience of over two billion people, the 50th anniversary

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in 1997, and a parade for the

2007 Rugby Union World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 ...

in Saint-Denis in

. Decouflé is the writer and director of the

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

show ''

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

''. Decouflé is also the director of the Cirque du Soleil show ''

Paramour Paramour may refer to: * A secret lover ** Extramarital sex partner ** Intimate relationship hidden partner * '' The Paramours'', a U.S. musical quintet * ''Paramour'' (Cirque du Soleil), musical theatre Broadway residency show * Paramour Mansi ...

'' which debuted in 2016 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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