Danser sa créature: Monograph on Myriam Gourfink's Choreographic Research

The monograph 'Danser sa créature', edited by Magali Lesauvage and Céline Piettre, has been published by Les presses du réel in the collection 'Arts de la scène & arts sonores'. Dedicated to choreographer Myriam Gourfink, the book features contributions from a philosopher, critic, historian, and dancers, with a preface by Jérôme Bel. It includes stage photographs and citations, designed as a 'sounding board'. The analysis covers new poetics of the body and foundational yoga practice (Sophie Grappin-Schmitt), dance as a novel (Geisha Fontaine), and collaboration with musician Kasper T. Toeplitz. Interviews with Gourfink and her performers reveal that improvisation and chance are banned, with mastery dominating. In her latest piece 'Bestioles', Gourfink directs her creatures live via computer scores that provide instructions to dancers. The work combines opposites: ancient and new, slowness and technological speed, constraint and interpretive freedom, as part of her research at the Fondation Royaumont. The book is positioned alongside Boris Charmatz's 'Je suis une école' (2009) in the field of dance reflection, addressing questions of (re)composition and choreographic writing in the digital age.