The Metamorphoses of François Chaignaud,
An Ecology of Creation

Aïnhoa Jean-Calmettes

Since the mid-2000s, François Chaignaud has established himself as a major artist on the contemporary scene, enriching his choreographic and musical performances through various collaborations. Those who have worked with him describe an artist in constant reinvention, whose ecology of creation and relationships contradicts the myth of the solitary, all-powerful artistic genius.

“What will he come up with next?” Romain Brau has heard this phrase countless times before François Chaignaud’s performances—uttered with a mix of apprehension, curiosity, and joy. The designer and long-time collaborator delights in it. Each work is a journey through time and space, an opportunity for the dancer-singer to explore a different aesthetic dimension, a new version of himself.

In Último helecho (2025)—created with Nina Laisné and Nadia Larcher—he channels Argentine and Peruvian folklore, arching his back and limbs, spinning like a genie half-god, half-tree. He also becomes gold and marble in a duet with Japanese butoh master Akaji Maro, a man of letters lending his voice to the medieval compositions of Hildegarde von Bingen alongside harpsichordist Marie-Pierre Brébant, or a latex-clad chrysalis Sylphide. 

Brau is not alone in marvelling at this metamorphic power. For Chaignaud, he has designed not just costumes but “dance triggers” ever since their first encounter—a story like no other, sealed by the loan of an ostrich-feather coat in 2012, during the tour of Sous l’ombrelle (a revue with Monsieur K) and (M)imosa, a speculative counter-history of dance devised with choreographers Cecilia Bengolea, Trajal Harrell, and Marlene Monteiro Freitas. 

That was over ten years ago. While Chaignaud would surely deny any programmatic intention, almost all the principles of his art were already visible in those works: the centrality of encounters, the joy of collaboration, reflections on repertoire and the limits of dance, dialogues with a diverse choreographic traditions, necessary forays into the less-standardized realms of cabaret and song, and above all, an unshakeable faith in the body’s inventive power. The subversive potential was already far greater than that attributed to Pâquerette (2008), a quartet for two dancers and two dildos, which earned him a scandalous reputation he has struggled to shake.

That almost all of Chaignaud’s works are born from encounters is no accident. It is a deliberate attack against the deadly myth of the artist as demiurge, solitary and omnipotent. The principle is political, and doubly so: it reaffirms that otherness transforms and enriches us—a reminder more urgent than ever today.

Geoffroy Jourdain is probably the one who captures this best. As artistic director of the ensemble Les Cris de Paris, he has created multiple works with Chaignaud, producing a true “community utopia.” “Whereas some collaborations are merely additions or juxtapositions of skills, the process for Tumulus was an experiment in hybridization. In collective exchange, everyone was transformed in leaps and bounds in their practice. Individual strengths and group possibilities were expanded enormously.”

Over the course of two years, dancers became singers and vice versa, to the point where it is now almost impossible to distinguish one from the other in their endless circle. Brau echoes this sentiment when describing the exhilaration of working with Chaignaud: “We constantly push each other further in what we are capable of doing.”

Refusing the idea that we are fixed beings, Chaignaud uses dance to convey that we can be many things. When not in dialogue with collaborators, he pursues this quest in his daily practice, where physical effort allows the contours of the body to become a little more flexible. It is a second blow to the myth of the inspired artist: dancers work, and they love it.

Cecilia Bengolea, a collaborator since the early days, recalls Pâquerette (2008) and their involvement in the struggles of sex workers. “We loved spending hours in the studio. We listened to music, talked, laughed until we lost track of time. We were 25 years old at the time, but he’s still like that, he hasn’t changed! He’s like a monk—he lives in the studio.”

In December 2025, Chaignaud and Bengolea will present an XXL version of Sylphides (2009) for six performers at the Grand Palais. This is not the first time that the collaborations defining this journey—along with the pieces that marked it—have been extended and transformed. Even as their careers diverged, the works of Chaignaud and Bengolea have long continued to echo each other. After In Abstentia (2022), performed in situ and reimagined as its cabaret Revue des tumerels, Tumulus is now about to be resurrected for the third time. Radio Vinci Park (created in 2016 with visual artist Théo Mercier) is also entering its second life.

This challenges a third myth: that of the great, innovative artist, perpetually breaking with tradition. In a world demanding constantly novelty, Chaignaud finds ways to remain in dialogue with legacies—however burdensome they may be, whether ballet in Pâquerette, American postmodernism and Judson Church in (M)imosa)—and constantly updates his own works. In his ecosystem of relationships, he outlines an ecology of art that is far more exciting than one that is limited to evaluating carbon emissions. 

Aïnhoa Jean-Calmettes is a journalist specializing in cultural and opinion pieces. She was the editor-in-chief of Mouvement magazine from 2014 to 2023, and she still directs its “Leaving the 20th century” and “After Nature” sections. She continues her investigations on the connections between contemporary creation and the humanities by writing critical pieces, analytical articles, and investigations in the art world. She works with several cultural institutions and often chairs panels and meetings.

François Chaignaud Portrait 
as a part of Festival d’Automne à Paris 2025

Radio Vinci Park (Reloaded) 
Choreography: François Chaignaud
Staging: Théo Mercier
From October 18 to 20
as a part of  Festival d’Automne à Paris 2025 

Romances incirertos, un autre Orlando 
Choreography: François Chaignaud
Staging: Nina Laisné
From November 4 to 7
at Théâtre de la Cité internationale 
as a part of Festival d’Automne à Paris 2025

Mirlitons
Choreography: Aymeric Hainaux et François Chaignaud
From November 12 to 16 
at Chaillot - Théâtre national de la danse 
as a part of Festival d’Automne à Paris 2025

GOLD SHOWER
Choreography: François Chaignaud et Akaji Maro
From November 21 to 23
at Maison de la musique de Nanterre
as a part of Festival d’Automne à Paris 2025

Ùltimo helecho 
Choreography: François Chaignaud
Staging: Nina Laisné 
From November 28 to 30 
at Théâtre de la Ville
as a part of Festival d’Automne à Paris 2025

Symphonia Harmoniæ Cælestium Revelationum
Choreography: François Chaignaud et Marie-Pierre Brébant
From December 11 to 14 
at MC93 - Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis
as a part of Festival d’Automne à Paris 2025

Sylphides
Choreography:  Cecilia Bengolea et François Chaignaud 
From December 7 to 18
at Grand Palais
as a part of Festival d’Automne à Paris 2025

Revue des Tumerels
Choreography: François Chaignaud et Geoffroy Jourdain 
December 20 
at Grand Palais
as a part of Festival d’Automne à Paris 2025