Christian Rizzo

en son lieu was born outdoors. For this piece specially created for the dancer Nicolas Fayol, Christian Rizzo worked outside the dance studio, going so far as to hone gestures in relation to the noises, breaths and natural landscapes from which they arise in the first place. In keeping with pieces such as à côté, d’après nature and une maison, en son lieu forges a dialogue with a physical space, both vast and reduced to the scale of its performer. Fascinated by his way of shifting and stretching hip-hop, the choreographer proposed this immersion in a living, non-city environment “to set ourselves adrift, together”. The result is a porous dance, driven by the movements of the landscape itself, which then brings them back into a theatrical space, initiating a back-and-forth between inside and outside. A few flowers, a rock and Caty Olive’s sculpted lighting design accompany this sober portrait, which marks Christian Rizzo’s return to the solo form.

As transdisciplinary artist, Christian Rizzo is a choreographer, visual artist, stylist and musician. In the 1990’s, he turned to contemporary dance, initially as a performer. Since then, he has created numerous pieces, performances and installations, alternating with commissions for opera, fashion and the visual arts. Since 2015, he has been the director of the Centre chorégraphique national de Montpellier – Occitanie, now named ICI (Institut Chorégraphique International).