Léo Lérus

Léo Lérus was born in Abymes, Guadeloupe, in 1980. His first school was with the choreographer and teacher Léna Blou. There he discovered traditional gwo ka dance and contemporary and classical dance. Then, at the age of 14, he joined the CNSMDP to continue his contemporary training. In 1999, he began his career as a performer with various companies, including the Batsheva Dance Company. Following in the footsteps of the various artists he has worked with, he began creating his own pieces in 2010. Affirming his attachment to the vein of gwo ka and to his native island, Léo Lérus is constantly experimenting, while respecting and exploring his cultural heritage. His most recent works include Entropie (2019), winner of the Audience Prize in the PODIUM 2021 competition organised by Le Pacifique CDCN Grenoble Auvergne Rhône-Alpes; and more recently Gounouj - in situ, winner of the ‘Mondes nouveaux’ scheme launched by the French Ministry of Culture.

The musical body 
This workshop is inspired by léwoz, a Guadeloupean cultural event where dancers are closely linked to the music; we will recreate the specificities of improvisation found there in a contemporary context. Dancers have the opportunity to provoke change, by taking risks that have an impact on musical development. This special place given to dance, in symbiotic dialogue with music, is at the heart of Léo Lérus’s research. While studying extracts from his repertoire, this workshop will open to a certain sense of groove, and an awareness on the part of the dancers of the impact of their movements on the soundscape, to create a musical body.