Announcing the 2026 FUSED Grantees

Concept and Beatboxing by Aymeric Hainaux | Concept and Dance by François Chaignaud | Artistic Collaboration by Sarah Chaumette | Costume Design by Sari Brunel

In Mirlitons, Chaignaud joins forces with beatboxer Aymeric Hainaux for a raw, ritualistic encounter where sound and gesture collide. On a stripped-back stage, the two artists engage in a high-stakes duel of vocal percussion and rhythmic movement. Using only microphones, bells, and the percussive strike of heels, they create a visceral “poem of breath” that explores the limits of physical and sonic exhaustion.

A major figure in contemporary dance and recently appointed Director of the National Choreographic Center of Caen, François Chaignaud bridges historical repertoires with the avant-garde. While a celebrated icon in Europe and associate artist at prestigious institutions like Chaillot and the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, his U.S. presence remains rare. A 2021 Villa Albertine resident, Chaignaud will embark on a multi-city U.S. tour, offering a timely opportunity to introduce his visionary work to the American cultural landscape.

To learn more about François Chaignaud and his company Mandorle, as well as Mirlitons, click here. 

Image by Martin Argyroglo

Choreography by Simon Le Borgne | Musical composition Ulysse Zangs | Performance by Simon Le Borgne and Ulysse Zangs | Artistic collaboration by Philomène Jander 

With Ad Libitum, Simon Le Borgne and Ulysse Zangs present a performance in which dance and live music engage in a dialogue to explore our relationship with the body and the act of creation.  

On stage, the choreographer-dancer confronts rigid forms—symbols of social and identity-based constraints—which he gradually deconstructs to reveal a body in perpetual metamorphosis. Facing him, Ulysse Zangs composes live, shifting from drums to synth and electric guitar, weaving a soundscape in constant interaction with dance. The mutual listening between the two artists becomes the driving force of a cyclical performance: each fall paves the way for a rebirth, each movement resonates like a pulse of life.  

Collaborators since their childhood training at the Paris Opera Ballet School, Simon Le Borgne and Ulysse Zangs represent the next generation of French choreographic excellence. While rooted in classical rigor, they have evolved into versatile creators, blending technical mastery with multidisciplinary performance. Discovered by U.S. presenters during the 2025 Villa Albertine delegation at the Lyon Biennale, these rising stars are now set to make their U.S. debut. Their first tour marks a promising new chapter in their international journey.

Click here to learn more about Simon Le Borgne and Ulysse Zangs and learn more about the show.

Image by David Le Borgne

Production by Compagnie Kadidi | Artistic Concept, Creation and Interpretation by Dorothée Munyaneza | Original Score by Khyam Allami and Dorothée Munyaneza | Costume Creation by Stéphanie Coudert | Adapted from a text by Elsa Dorlin 

In Toi, moi, Tituba, Munyaneza draws inspiration from Maryse Condé’s celebrated novel and the work of philosopher Elsa Dorlin. Enveloped in a sculptural costume and accompanied by the haunting sounds of Khyam Allami’s oud, she uses her body as a “living archive.” Through a blend of song and movement, she exhumes the forgotten stories of Tituba—the enslaved woman at the center of the Salem witch trials—weaving a powerful link between past and present. 

A multidisciplinary force, Dorothée Munyaneza is a choreographer, musician, and storyteller whose work gives voice to silenced histories. Originally from Rwanda and now based in Marseille, she has gained international acclaim for performances of profound emotional depth. After the success of her work Mailles, presented in New York and Los Angeles in 2023, she returns to the United States for an anticipated multi-city tour. Supporting Toi, moi, Tituba offers a rare opportunity for American audiences to engage with a world-class artist whose poetic perspective on shared history, memory, and justice is both crucial and timely. 

To learn more about Dorothée Munyaneza and her show Toi, moi, Tituba, click here. 

Image by Dajana Lothert

Choreography by Olga Dukhovna | Performed by François Malbranque, Olga Dukhovna, Éric Allard-Jacquin |Dramaturgy by Simon Hatab 

HOPAK is an artistic exploration of Ukrainian cultural identity. Dukhovnaya strips the national dance of Ukraine to its essential movements, imagining how it would have evolved freely without centuries of outside influence. Following successful presentations at the Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis and the Reykjavík Dance Festival, this trio creates a vibrant bridge between traditional heritage and a resilient, contemporary future. 

Based in France and originally from Ukraine, Olha Dukhovnaya is a choreographer known for her rigorous minimalist approach. A graduate of P.A.R.T.S. and a former collaborator of Boris Charmatz, her work sits at the intersection of historical research and contemporary experimentation. Bringing HOPAK to the United States for its U.S. premiere allows audiences to engage with a project of high artistic and historical relevance. 

Click here to learn more about Olga Dukhovna and her project Hopak. 

Image by Geoffrey Montagu

This project is a unique co-creation between the Choreographic National Center of Grenoble and the NOLA International Dance Festival. 

This creative residency brings choreographer Aina Alegre to New Orleans to collaborate with local brass bands and dancers. Drawing inspiration from both Mediterranean “pasacalles” and the iconic New Orleans Second Line tradition, the project explores the “procession” as a site of community empowerment. Together, French and American artists will build a continuous flow of movement and sound, turning the act of marching into a vibrant, shared ritual. 

Based in France and originally from Barcelona, Aina Alegre is the Director of the CCN of Grenoble. Her work explores the body as a social and historical site, focusing on the powerful relationship between live music and movement. Through AT DAWN, Alegre engages in a deep artistic exchange with local instrumentalists and performers in the United States. This collaboration celebrates the local artistic community through a choral performance that transforms simple gestures into a powerful collective experience, built specifically through this international dialogue on American soil

Learn more about Aina Alegre here. 

Image by Martin Argyroglo

La Ville Dansée is a city-wide festival originally launched in Paris to bring high-level choreography into public spaces. For this Los Angeles edition, fourteen LA Dance Project dancers will perform a collaborative work by Millepied and Chamblas alongside American dancemakers Pam Tanowitz, Jamar Roberts, and Madeline Hollander. Adapted from the 2025 Paris presentation, the Los Angeles version features a newly commissioned section created specifically for this iteration, turning the city’s urban landscape into a vibrant, living stage. 

World-renowned choreographers Benjamin Millepied and Dimitri Chamblas have been creative partners since their youth at the Lyon National Conservatory. Millepied, a former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and Director of the Paris Opera Ballet, founded L.A. Dance Project (LADP) to redefine the role of dance in the modern city. Chamblas, known for his radical multidisciplinary approach and his leadership at the CalArts School of Dance, continues to push the boundaries of performance through large-scale, site-specific works. 

Click here to learn more about Dimitri Chamblas, here to learn about Benjamin Millepied, and here to learn more about the LA Dance Project.  

Image by Valentin Folliet

Times Four /1975/2025 is the excavation of a seminal 1975 duet originally performed by Gordon and his life-partner, Valda Setterfield. Reconstructed in the same SoHo loft where it premiered 50 years ago, the work is a feat of artistic archaeology. Working from rehearsal videos, Valda’s handwritten notes, and oral memory, Cardona and Lieber preserve and build upon these 1975 fragments. The result is a “Times Four” for 2025—a bridge between the elusive archives of the past and the vibrant physical presence of today’s performers. 

David Gordon (1936-2022) was a pioneer of the Judson Dance Theater who redefined the boundaries between dance and theater. This retrospective is brought to life by two major figures of the contemporary New York scene: Wally Cardona and Molly Lieber. Together, they bridge Gordon’s historical legacy with the modern avant-garde. Following a Villa Albertine curatorial delegation, Times Four/1975/2025 will be presented across France’s leading choreographic stages. This project sustains the deep, historical dialogue between American dance and French audiences, ensuring that an essential piece of postmodern heritage continues to inspire and resonate across the Atlantic today. 

To learn more about David Gordon, click here. 

Image by Maria Baranova

A major figure of American post-modern dance, Lisa Nelson has spent decades exploring how we perceive movement through her Tuning Scores. This multi-sensory practice uses verbal “calls” borrowed from video editing—such as Pause, Reverse, or Repeat—allowing participants to edit choreography in real time. In a unique collaboration with Ateliers de Paris, a group of experienced dancers will work with Nelson to explore for the first time how these action calls translate into the French language. This special “Observatory” highlights how shifting linguistic and cultural contexts can transform a physical practice, offering the public a rare insight into the dialogue between language and the dancing body. 

This residency marks a historic milestone as Lisa Nelson’s final trip to Europe, an exceptional opportunity to engage with an artist who has profoundly shaped contemporary dance. The visit coincides with the 2026 release of her book, Living in the Composition, and the debut of two video games inspired by her research, developed with the Belgian organization Contredanse. Accompanied by performances and a roundtable discussion with researchers, this event celebrates the enduring legacy of the Tuning Scores and Nelson’s rigorous investigation into the nature of sight and movement. 

To learn more about Lisa Nelson and the Tuning Scores, click here. 

Image by Florence Corin