Carolyn Carlson

Hi my lovely dancers!

Today I'm going to talk about an icon of contemporary dance: Carolyn Carlson! Its longiline silhouette has a unique gracefulness over the years. Known throughout the world, this American dancer and choreographer of Finnish origin chose France as her adopted country. She has drawn her inspiration from France for more than thirty years. 

CAROLYN CARLSON, 70 YEARS OLD

An American in Paris 

Born in 1943 to Finnish parents, Carolyn Carlson studied dance at the San Francisco Ballet School and the University of Utah. She met choreographer Alwin Nikolais and became the star soloist of his company in New York for seven years. She danced all over the world. In 1968, she won the Best Dancer Award at the Paris International Dance Festival. She created her first piece, Rituel pour un rêve mort, which she performed in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes in Avignon in 1972.

Choreographer-star at the Paris Opera

In 1974, she met the composer Rolf Liebermann, who had just been appointed General Administrator of the Paris Opera. He invited her to this prestigious house as a choreographer-star, a title he created especially for her. He offers her the opportunity to direct the Groupe de Recherche Théâtrale de l'Opéra de Paris (GRTOP). For several years, she initiates dancers to her improvisation and composition technique. With them, she explores new avenues in contemporary dance. 

It's good "signs" 

Created in 1997 for the Paris Opera, Signes is an astonishing work that combines music, painting and dance thanks to the meeting of the worlds of three artists: the visual artist Olivier Debré, the musician René Aubry, Carolyn Carlson's faithful collaborator, and the choreographer herself. Principal interpreter with Marie-Claude Pietragalla during the creation, the star Kader Belarbi bid farewell to the stage in 2008 by reprising this major piece by Carlson in the company of Marie-Agnès Gillot. 

SIGNES, BASTILLE OPERA, 2013

A globe-trotting choreographer

His career has also led Carlson to become artistic director of the La Fenice Theatre in Venice, the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm and the dance section of the Venice Biennale, a major contemporary art event. In 2006, she was the first choreographer to receive a Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale. 

Blue Lady, her mythical solo

With Blue Lady, created in 1983, Carolyn Carlson went around the world. How can we forget the silhouette of a woman in a red dress seen through Venetian blinds? In 2008, during the Biennale de la danse in Lyon, the choreographer "offered" this solo to a young Finnish dancer and choreographer, Tero Saarinien. The question of transmission has always been present in the choreographer's work. By passing the torch to the younger generation and in particular to a man, who revisits and appropriates each piece of choreography, she is rooting Blue Lady a little more deeply in the history of contemporary dance. 

CAROLYN CARLSON, BLUE LADY, PARIS 

A little anecdote: in 1993, Carolyn Carlson created a magnificent solo for Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Don't Look Back.