Sasha J. Blondeau, François Chaignaud & Hélène Giannecchini

Choreographer, and composer and writer

December 2021 → February 2022

Helene François Sasha
  • Music
  • Literature
  • Performing Arts
  • Cities
  • San Francisco
“San Francisco and California are one of the birthplaces of queer culture, and of the gender studies that will enrich our thoughts and imagination when working on this project.”
Who?
-

Sasha J. Blondeau: I am a Conservatoire supérieur de Lyon- and Ircam-trained composer who specializes in mixed music, which combines acoustic instruments and/or voices with electronics. I try to find unique spaces of expression that blur the boundaries between widely different elements, both instrumental and electroacoustic.

 

François Chaignaud: A graduate of the Conservatoire de danse de Paris, I have been dancing since childhood in search of points of convergence between different artistic genealogies. For the past ten years, I have been developing a dance/singing hybrid form of expression. Vocal practice has always been a way for me to summon specific historical references that cannot be brought out by choreography alone.

 

Hélène Giannecchini : I am doctor in literature, teacher and writer. My books are at the crossroads of narrative and essay. My work is close to non-fiction literature. Theoretical work ans pictures structure my texts.  

 

Sasha J. Blondeau was a fellow of the Villa Medici in Rome in 2018–19, and a resident in 2020–21. They received commissions from SWR Donaueschinger Musiktage, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik (WDR), Ensemble Intercontemporain, Radio France, Ircam, Théâtre du Châtelet, Festival Musica, the French Ministry of Culture, and Françoise and Jean-Philippe Billarant, among others.

 

François Chaignaud has worked as a performer with several choreographers, using both dancing and singing, at the crossroads of different inspirations. Their curiosity led to collaborations with Marie-Caroline Hominal, Théo Mercier, Cecilia Bengolea, and Nino Laisné, among others. In 2020, François Chaignaud co-wrote GOLD SHOWER, with Butoh icon Akaji Maro.

 

Hélène Giannecchini is a writer. Doctor of literature, she teaches contemporary art history and theory at l’École européenne supérieure de l’Image de Poitiers Angoulême (ÉESI). She has published two books with Les éditions du Seuil publishing house, “Une Image peut-être vraie” (2014) and “Voir de ses propres yeux” (2020), as part of their “La Librairie du XXIe siècle” collection. Currently, she is a resident at the Centre national de la Danse, where she is preparing her third works in the same collection. From 2018-19 she was a resident at the Academy of France in Rome, Villa Médicis. 

 

What?
+
Where?
+

In partnership with

Cite de la musique logo
Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris

The Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris is a national public institution dedicated to musical performance, distribution, and education. It comprises 4 concert halls, the Musée de la musique, the Orchestra de Paris, temporary exhibition spaces, educational facilities, a media library, and rehearsal rooms. Its mission is to bring music to newer and broader audiences by promoting equal access for all to different forms of music. Each season, the Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris holds some 500 concerts as well as 3 temporary exhibitions. It is also home to 4 resident ensembles, organises a vast range of educational activities, and coordinates the nationwide Démos youth orchestra programme.

 

Learn more