At the dawn of the 20th century, "exotic" dance, linked to colonization, conveys racist stereotypes and with them, the myth of the "animal" or "erotic" dancer. But these dances reveal resolutely new gestures, sources of inspiration for the avant-garde choreographers.

Thus, Raphaëlle Delaunay, a dancer at the Paris Opera who later joined the greatest contemporary companies, reinterprets in her choreographies the black dances to "appropriate this memory and this story".

Source: Corps Rebelles

More information: http://corpsrebelles.museedesconfluences.fr/

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dance in London, Raphaëlle Delaunay was admitted into the Ecole de Danse de l'Opéra de Paris, where she joined the ranks of the Corps de Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris. Upon the invitation of Pina Bausch, she joined the Tanztheater Wuppertal where she was involved in particular in interpretations of Café Muller, Le Sacre du Printemps and Kontakthof, as well as the choreography for four other pieces: Mazurka Fogo, O Dido, Wiesenland, Barbe-Bleue.

In 2000, she joined the Nederlands Dans Theater, directed by Jiri Kylian. In 2003, she met Alain Platel, with whom she worked on Mozart and Wolf, the projet dedicated to him. She also danced with the collective Peeping Tom (Belgium) in Le Jardin in 2002. As part of the company Traces, she produced Jeux d'intention (2006), Vestis (2006), Hot Dogs (2007), Ginger Jive and Bitter Sugar.

Raphaëlle Delaunay also performs for Alain Buffard, Richard Siegal and many others; she also worked with Jean-Christophe Saïs on "Histoire du Soldat". 

A commission from the Cité de la Musique enabled her to produce "Pétrouschka" in April 2012 with Radio France's Philharmonic orchestra. "Chez Joséphine" will be produced in December 2013 with the Caratini Jazz Ensemble and two dancers, as an extension of the work on danses noires (black dances). She created Chaconne (2015) at the invitation of Subsistances with the baroque ensemble of Les Nouveaux Caractères (the New haracters).

Source : Raphaëlle Delaunay's website 

More information : http://raphaelledelaunay.com/

Jean-Louis Pecci is a canadian director.

The exhibition Corps rebelles invited the public to discover contemporary dance. She presented the different approaches of the dancing body, illustrated by emblematic choreographies.

The question of interpretation was also at the heart of the exhibition with eight versions of The Rite of Spring created by eight great choreographers. The exhibition continued by treating notation as a tool for memorizing and transmitting a gesture.

Source: Corps rebelles

More information: http://corpsrebelles.museedesconfluences.fr/