Franois Raffinot

Vocation

French dancer, choreographer, teacher and writer. He studied the dances of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and in 1980 participated in the founding of the company "Ris and Danceries" of which he was co-leader from 1984 to 1989 with Francine Lancelot. In 1990, he founded his own company, "Barocco". He was appointed as director of Le Havre National Choreographic Centre - Upper Normandy for six years (1993-1998). From 1999-2001, he set up the choreographic department of IRCAM with Laurent Bayle (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, or Institute for Research and Coordination Acoustic / Music in English; a French institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music). Eventually he created SNARC (Site nomade des ateliers de recherche chorégraphique) first in residency at Metz and currently at the Conservatory in Le Blanc-Mesnil. He is regularly invited to give lectures at art schools, universities and frequently publishes books, articles and fiction. Link to Wikipedia biography (French)