Q: How did you begin (dance)?

I started dancing randomly because of my best friend. Her mom was ambitious and wanted her to dance, and I wanted to follow her. We went to do the exam for the conservatory for dance, we passed, and I started to train. To be fair, I was full of energy, but at first, dance was not my passion. I just liked to move, and I enjoyed dancing with my friend. As time went on, I realized I couldn’t live without dance. Dance was my way to finding the sensation of being alive. I decided to go for it and explore what dance could really mean to me.

I grew up in Rouen in the north of France. When I was 17, I moved to Switzerland to go to the Geneva Ballet School, and did three years there and then one year with SEED in Australia. After that, I went to Hofest II and since August 2019, I've been in the main company.

Q: What has (dance) taught you that you have applied to your everyday life and how you engage in the world?

I’ve learned from performing that you don't need words to exchange with people. If you don't come from the same culture or language, you can still communicate with others. Last winter, we were touring in Russia, and we were in a ballet theater. In the morning, we saw the ballet dancers and I remember wondering if the audience would get the idea of our show because we don't have the same ballet styles—we are much more in the floor with strong energy. I was worried the audience would not get it. After the performance there was a standing ovation, and I felt like we really exchanged something true and honest, and that was very moving and touching. Even if you do connect with words, you can also connect in another way and I find that really powerful.

Q: Has (dance) helped you overcome any hardships in your life?

Yes, for sure. For me, I think art is the way of dealing with trauma or issues, because it's a really precious place where you can experience freedom. Even if it is a bad feeling, you often see performances with violence, and it can be so intense. At the end, I hope you can resolve something through the art. For me, it is a way to heal.

Q: What other interests and passions do you have outside or inside of (dance) that influence and inspire your artistry?

I love the human aspect of dance. It is the most important thing in dance for me, and it's why I chose this job. I want to be fulfilled, and to be fulfilled is to be happy, and to be happy is be with people you love. I think it is the others around that are the most important thing for me. I also like to read novels, hear stories, listen to podcasts and have deep conversations with my friends. I also love to discover other training, like martial arts.

Q: What have been some challenges in your pre professional and professional career?

I guess, for me, it was the amount of people in the world of dance. There are so many, and the places to dance are so small. There are not many jobs to get. At one point I was afraid, because you need to know who you are. And sometimes, it's hard to show everything—not just show, but to affirm and share yourself. Sometimes you feel like: Am I in the right place? Should I really go for it or not? It was very hard for me to just be confident with what path I was taking. I entered school young, and I was with older people who were so sure of themselves, and I would judge myself often and doubt myself. This has been my biggest challenge: to just be free and not judge myself, and just to share, because that is the beauty of what we are doing. We are sharing, and sometimes, it is scary.

Q: How can (dance) be a platform for social justice issues?

Performing arts is a big platform to share ideas. You can communicate with many people. For example, with Hofesh, we tour in big theaters, so you can communicate a lot of ideas you want to share with many people. It is good as live media, how we use it to inform people and also give solutions. Sometimes, you can give your point of view through dance. Also, I feel like the education in dance can be useful, as I feel in the dance world we may be a bit more open. You have to move in different cultures and countries and in your own culture, and seeing these new ways of thinking makes you available. Dance education creates more open minded people.

Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you as a performing artist?

It stopped everything. I am not working at all. I am at my parents’ place. I work in London, but I didn't know when we would go back to the studio, so I came home. It was very scary. All of a sudden all you created and all the things that you built were stopped and cancelled. We were supposed to go to France for a tour and start a new creation and perform it in May, and obviously that is a big drop. It is really scary. Also financially, we are a touring company, so if we don't tour, we don't have money. So, we are completely in the unknown, trying to not drown. It was so scary the first two weeks. I was afraid to lose technique, but quickly after, I discovered all the resources online. We also have workouts and company class. Now, I realize I am so blessed in the situation. We will also be paid 80% of our salary, which is so good.

Q: What were your initial reactions and emotions to the shutdown?

The beginning was really sad. We were in the studio and Hofest came. We don't work often with him because he is so busy. It was really intense that day. He just said we are stopping the company and we don't know how long it will be. I was really sad because I love my job, and I really appreciate my colleagues, and I feel I am growing in this company as a human and dancer. I felt my life was on standby. I also felt frustrated, because I am powerless in the situation. I can give money. But I can do no concrete actions to help. I am not a doctor. How do we face this situation without helping in a tangible way? This was really frustrating. I was not really scared [of the virus] because the U.K. was not really aware of it at the time, so I didn't realize the bigger picture. When we came back to France, we were really on lockdown, so the frustration got harder because we really couldn't leave our houses. Now it's better, because I realize I have time for myself and my family and that is such a good thing to discover. You can really adapt if you are available, and you realize the things that are more important for you are relative to time. Now it is another time, and I can find other things that are important for me. I found that we, as humans, can adapt and change so easily. Sometimes, we are so afraid of changes, and it’s for nothing. Because really, everything is still happening and we can adapt.

Q: What does a daily routine look like for you? What have you been working on during this time?

I always like to run. I gave myself a challenge to do a half marathon. Every two days, I run fifteen kilometers and increase the distance and speed. We also have to workout with the associate director of Hofesh. Hofesh himself is also giving class twice a week. Sometimes, I also take Gaga class. I try to go back to ballet somehow, now that I have time. There are so many resources online. I try random classes like yoga and martial arts. I also have a friend in the company and we juggle together. We take juggling classes to improve. I am trying to stay fit. I have the hope to come back at the end of June. Hofesh said we will probably go to work at the end of June. I don't think we really will, but I have that hope. ‍

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Q: What does it look like in France?

We are still in lockdown. We can only grocery shop. The death of people is better. In the beginning it was crazy. I wasn’t really scared for me, because I'm young, but I was scared for my grandma and my parents because at one point, it was 700 dead per day and it was crazy. Now it’s about 300 a day. Quarantine will be over on the 11th of May, hopefully. We will have the right to move then. We can walk around, but the shops will remain closed. This will be our only new right. Also, my parents are teachers, and they say they will go back to work May 11th, but we are still unsure. The theater is closed until July 15th, but I think it will stay like that until September and we will have to cancel the rest of the season. I think dancers and artists will be the last persons to go back to work because we are not “useful in an economic way” for the government. I don't agree with that.

Q: How do you see people continuing to create and build community during this time?

I have friends that send me websites for classes, and every day we get a message that announces the classes. There are plenty of these groups and communities. Even for Gaga, there are donation based classes. Hofesh has also done open class. It is beautiful to see we have solidarity and community. I also have friends who offer to give classes randomly to just take their classes. It is full of classes online, and it is amazing. In the beginning I felt alone, but because everyone is in the same situation trying to share their knowledge, I actually don't feel alone anymore. I enjoy seeing this. Sometimes I feel that before, people didn't want to share their audition information, because they thought that you would get the contract they wanted. But now, I see people really sharing all the information and opening up.

Q: Using the idea of “worldmaking” how do you imagine the performing arts world after the pandemic? (Worldmaking: How you can re-imagine the world in your own terms, the way you want it to be. Using this tool one can construct new worlds and write themselves into narratives that have excluded them and systems that have disabled them.)

I would love to keep this feeling of solidarity. I feel like during this pandemic, we can see what really matters and I hope that we can still keep this honesty because people are more honest and true right now, and they just want to share. I chose dance to share from human to human. I hope we keep this feeling. I don't want to see people lying to themselves or others. Sometimes people are not themselves, and I find it sad. People always hide, and I think being vulnerable can be great too. I want to have this feeling of a big group—not individuals trying to get their own agendas done. Of course there will be competition, but I hope for more of a feeling of unity. I would also like to see dance education now, to help dancers to be more open and available. I hope that the government will understand that the performing arts are so powerful in helping to find solutions. I hope that, after this, they will understand the power and strength of the performing arts—not just as entertainment, but as a profession that is just as important as other jobs, like lawyers, because I think dance can help solve conflicts. In France, that is not the priority for the government at all. We are just not seen as essential. I also hope that collaboration between the arts continues, as there are organizations that are mixing philosophy with dance and poetry online and that is so beautiful.