ARTISTIC TEAM
JEAN-MICHEL GARRAUD
Jean Michel Garraud “Joss” is a choreographer, dancer and performer. Self-taught and well-rounded, he is an expert in hip hop and breakdancing. More than a profession, dance is for him a vocation and a way of sharing his knowledge with young audiences and professional dancers.
From the American continent (Canada, USA) to Europe (England, France, Germany) via the Caribbean (Martinique, Dominica), Jean-Michel has been involved in show productions, battles and exchanges, giving him adaptability and multiple experiences.
Since 2014, he has been an active participant in the dynamism and representativeness of hip hop dance in Martinique. He is a member of Zion B-boys, who presented their latest creation Chut, je vis at Tropiques Atrium in 2019-2020.
DEBORAH LARY
Dancer - Performer
Passionate, committed and demanding, Deborah Lary has developed her taste for writing dance and body precision, combined with an in-depth yoga practice with Myriam Gourfink, for whom she has worked since 2005.
Her collaboration with Les Gens d'UTERPAN will also be a turning point in her conception of interpretation and the artist's commitment. She was one of the dancers who performed 4 hours a day for 4 months at the Lyon Biennial of Contemporary Art in 2007. This experience was to have a considerable influence on her artistic choices and her positioning as a performer.
Since these two decisive experiences in 2005, other “coup de cœur” encounters have punctuated her career. Such is the case with Kirsten Debrock, for whom she created 8 works and continues to dance regularly - her latest solo, Quartz, was created in 2023. She also works with Françoise Tartinville, Faizal Zeghoudi, Patrick Le Doare and Olivier Dubois. Since 2016, she has also accompanied Filipe Lourenco as choreographic assistant.
Since 2018 she has been collaborating with Marlène Myrtil on the Martinique territory.
JÉSIKA ORSINET
Dancer - Performer
Chroniques agricoles - Terres au féminin
Jésika is a Martinican dancer with an eclectic background, reflecting the cultural and artistic influences she has experienced. Cultures from African sources weave the common thread that she will follow in her experiences as a performer and choreographer : from West African dances to Caribbean dances, from the Dunham technique to contemporary dance, she expresses herself in both traditional and modern forms.
She was a performer in the companies of choreographers Chrysogone Diangouaya, Moustapha Bangoura, Max Diakok, Hubert Petit-Phar and Delphine Cammal, Chantal Loïa Art & Fact in Maritnique.
At the same time, she develops her choreographic writing in her company, around themes linked to otherness, femininity and the black condition. She articulates her research around bèlè while drawing on the various influences that have marked her. Live music, improvisation, visual and literary arts occupy an essential place in his creations.
As a teacher and speaker, she uses dance as mediation in professional training, educational and socio-cultural contexts, or even in helping relationships. Since 2016, she has also been working within the university framework in the anthropology of dance, and is interested in dances from black cultures, from the points of view of heritage legacies, contemporary practices and their place in societies. She is currently conducting doctoral research on decolonial perspectives in Martinican choreographic creation.
RITA RAVIER
Dancer - performer
Trained at the Centre des Arts de la Scène (multidisciplinary arts center) in Paris, she started out as a dancer, singer and actor with Compagnie Difé Kako (2002-2019), continued with Kiwat Cie and since 2012 with other professional dance companies based in Martinique : Murielle Bedot's Compagnie Idylle, Jean-Félix Zaïre's Compagnie Yonn Dé Moun.
In turn a singer and backing vocalist, she practiced with Faratouba (Afro world music, 6 years), Hm..Hm (Afro-musette, 4 years), Orchestre Difé Kako (Caribbean, 4 years) and participated in the creation of several albums (Faratouba, Orchestre Difé Kako, Téléma).
In Martinique, she returned to singing with Laurent Phénis' Kamoata group. She continued her acting career with the Compagnie Acte II's play Le livre de la jungle in Paris, and since her return to Martinique she has flourished with theatrical creations by Eric Delor, Valérie Goma in French Guiana, Daniély Francisque, Françoise Dô, Hervé Deluge, Néophana Valentine and Emile Pelti, Jean-Erns Marie-Louise, Alexandra Déglise.
At the same time, Rita created her own company Insolites in 2016 with the play Ô fil de soi. In 2020, she will embark on a 2nd choreographic creation for her company Insolites. Rita regularly teaches African dance and theater master classes in Martinique.
FRANCIS SAINT-ALBIN
Dancer - Performer
Francis Saint-Albin, Madak, is originally from Martinique. He has been practicing hip-hop dance since 1995. Founder of the Zion B-boys group in 2012, Francis teaches, performs and choreographs in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti and Canada. He works with Stella Moutou and the Ballet créole de Toronto.
In 2018, he performs 1+1 by the Kaméléonite company. In 2019, he co-wrote Zion B-boys' first choreographic creation Chut, je vis. In 2021, he joined Compagnie Kaméléonite's artistic team for the creation of Chroniques agricoles. He created his first solo Retrograde in 2022, followed by Corpo materia in 2023. He is also a dancer-interpreter on pieces by Amine Boussa and Bouba Landrille.
At the same time, Francis performs on the hip hop scene in Martinique, and takes part in events in France. As a graduate of the Sivananda Vedanta school since 2016, Francis regularly practices and teaches hatha yoga. He is currently developing an improvisation methodology based on intuitive dance.
PASCAL SERALINE
Dancer - Performer
Pascal Séraline began his dance training in 1986 at Sermac in Martinique, and continued in France at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon until 1992. He holds a state diploma as a dance teacher.
He has performed with many choreographers : Christiane Emmanuel, Josiane Antourel, Derek Williams, Josette Baïz, Régine Chopinot, Andy Degroat, Fabienne Abramovich... From 1997 to 2016, he worked regularly in Europe. He joined the Théâtre de la Ville de Saarbruecken, where he danced and choreographed for 11 years.
Returning to Martinique in 2017, from 2018 he performs 1+1 for Compagnie Kaméléonite, creates the solo L'homme coco, and teaches contemporary dance in Fort-de-France. Since 2019, he has worked for Compagnie Thomas Lebrun and Compagnie Christiane Emmanuel. He recently choreographed for the play Le Dernier jour d'un condamné directed by José Exélis.
MYRIAM SOULANGES
Choreographer - Dancer - performer
Back Art Diffusion
Blues écarlate - Principe de précaution - Tropique du képone
Myriam Soulanges finds her influences in different aesthetics, contemporary dance and urban cultures. She describes herself as a dancer from the neighborhood and a racialized woman of Caribbean origin.
After studying at university, she joined a professional training course run by Rick Odums in Paris, obtaining her state diploma in jazz dance in 1998, then went on to teach at the Salle Pleyel and in the Paris suburbs. Her choreographic career has taken a self-taught approach in Guadeloupe, where she has been developing her artistic projects since 2010, the year she founded the Back Art Diffusion association.
Winner of the competition for emerging choreographers in the Caribbean, with the duet Alé é rivé created in 2010, she focused her work on questions of identity : gender, geography and culture. In 2012, the piece Mika, heure locale is a continuation of this approach to a mixed culture with its fashions, musical styles, expressions and codes of popularity.
In 2014, she co-wrote Principe de précaution with Marlène Myrtil. With Ivorian choreographer Abdoulaye Trésor Konaté, they created Rien à aborder in 2018, a duet about otherness, difference and the singularity of the two performers. In 2018, with choreographer Anne Meyer and visual artist Guy Gabon, the Yué # sororité project invites some twenty women to co-write an in situ performance, around the notion of departure.
In 2019, Myriam Soulanges has been selected by La Fabrique de la Danse for Les femmes sont là. Mickaël Phelippeau, whom she met in Cuba, accompanies Myriam Soulanges as an outsider's eye on her solo, Cover (creation 2021-2022).
Myriam has been selected for the Édition Spéciale #4 continuing education program organized by CND Pantin and La Belle Ouvrage, in 2020. This edition covers the processes of choreographic creation, composition and dramaturgy, as well as the artist's career path and responsibilities as a project leader.
CHANTAL THINE
Dancer - performer
After immigrating to Quebec in 1999, Chantal Thine began performing on the Canadian Latin and Brazilian stages in 2003. Her passion for Afro-Brazilian culture and dance regularly leads her to perfect her skills in Brazil with several masters. At the same time, she continued her training in contemporary African dance while working as a kinesiologist and fitness instructor.
In 2010 she co-created and choreographed for Chicaboom Entertainment.
In 2013, she made her debut on the contemporary scene with choreographer Julienne Doko. During the 2014 - 2015 season, she made a rich entry onto the Martinique scene with choreographer Josiane Antourel and the Art & Fact company.
In a therapeutic search for the body through movement, she obtained the Ann McMillan Pilates Method diploma and Tao Hands certification. Her encounter with David Milôme, choreographer of MD Company, gave birth to the duo Une de perdue...une de perdue? in 2017. In an ongoing search for balance between body and spirit, Chantal Thine pursues her explorations of energy and dance in a spirit of sharing and authenticity. In 2024 she created her solo Fudge.et.si.
JEAN-FELIX ZAÏRE
Dancer - performer
Jean-Félix Zaïre studied contemporary dance with Josiane Antourel, and was also introduced to traditional Martinique dance, Modern Cuban and African dance at the SERMAC workshops in Fort-de-France.
A dancer-performer since 1992, Jean-Félix Zaïre joined the Christiane Emmanuel company, Marie-Pierre Aranzana's D'ici Danse company and, more recently, Marlène Myrtil's Kaméléonite company.
Trained in improvisation, choreographic composition and contact dance, Jean-Félix Zaïre founded the Yonn Dé Moun company in 2004 and choreographed three creations.
As a dance teacher - Diplôme d'Etat - in 2007 he created the Contemp'danse association to support training and transmission projects in cultural centres and schools in Martinique, and in 2010 developed a troupe of amateur dancers to prepare the next generation of dancers. Jean-Félix's work reflects the plural identity of the Caribbean basin.