From 1986 to 2008, she directed one of France's major national choreographic centers (the CCN La Rochelle), yet she always refused to commit her creative energies to overly well-trodden paths. In the early 90s, she left the "spaces of great lightness" where, at a very young age, she had made a name for herself in her long association with fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier. She then turned her attention to less trendy experiments, confronting contemporary dance with the elements and natural rhythms, and testing it against ancient and complex practices and sciences of the body, such as yoga.
In 2002, she opened the "Triptych of the End of Time", a lengthy rethinking of choreographic writing and creation, resulting in a deliberate crisis
of general notions of time, memory and construction. CHAIROBSCUR has turned towards the erasure of the past, of memory, and WHA towards the disappearance of the future. O.C.C.C. was concerned with the "time that remains", with what remains to be done, what can still be done, in the simple and essential place of representation.
In 2008, a new structure, Cornucopiae - the independent dance, is responsible for the creation and repertoire of all Régine Chopinot's work.
From 2009 to 2018, Régine Chopinot ventured, questioned and deepened her research into the body in movement and the power of the spoken word in cultures organized around oral transmission in the South Pacific: New Caledonia, New Zealand, Japan. In 2011, Régine Chopinot chose Toulon to live and work. Le Port des créateurs, Tiers Lieu Culturel et Citoyen welcomes her as an associate artist, then as a territory artist, and finally as a long-term resident until the end of 2026.
From September 2019 to April 2022, with the support of Myriam Mazouzi, director of the Académie de l'Opéra national de Paris, Régine Chopinot plans and produces OUI, a transmission and creation project that aims to teach the French language through dance to people living in exile or in precarious situations, while questioning the relevance of choreographic art to our society. Three documentary films by Jean-Baptiste Warluzel retrace the adventure of this unique and powerful experience, and can be viewed on the Cornucopiae and Opéra national de Paris websites.
In 2019, Hortense Archambault - director of the MC93 in Bobigny - invited Régine Chopinot and her team, as part of the "fabrique d'expériences" program, for a long residency in research and choreographic creation, which will give rise to « top » in September 2021; « top » is supported by the Fondation d'entreprise Hermès for three years. « top » is currently touring the major stages of France, with a view to returning to European and international stages in 2024.
In January 2021, again at the Maison de la Culture de Seine-St-Denis in Bobigny, in co-production with the Festival de danse d'Uzès, a sextet - choreography, dance, guitaire, sound and light - was created under the name A D-N, the initials of Alexandra David-Neel. A new version, A D-N au carré, was created in October 2022 at the Musée Gassendi in Digne-les-Bains, then at the Frank Gehry Music Pavilion at Château La Coste (13) to explore outdoor venues such as gardens, estates...
In 2023, as part of Women In Motion, a joint initiative between the Centre Pompidou's Direction des Spectacles Vivants - Chloé Siganos, the Kering Group and Shanghai's West Bund Museum, a duet danced by Wen Hui and Régine Chopinot was created in April 2023, with Vincent Kreyder on drums. Sophie Laly's eponymous film Outredanse, which bears witness to this singular gesture, will be screened on April 14, 15 and 16, 2023 in Shanghai.
Du Corps à l'ouvrage, Corps mémoire, a new cycle of research and creation is being developed ... slowly, without hurrying, for a three-year period, from 2023 to 2026, with the particularity of being built outdoors. The first section takes place from October 30 to November 4, 2023 on the hillside of Ollioules, co-produced by Châteauvallon Scène nationale Toulon.
Some references to choreographic creations
Délices (1983), Le Défilé (1985), K.O.K (1988), Saint Georges (1991), Végétal (1995), TRANS(E) (2000), CHAIR-OBSCUR (2002), WHA (2004), CORNUCOPIAE (2008), Very Wetr! (2012), piécette (2015), PACIFIKMELTINGPOT - PMP (2015 to 2018), A D-N (2021), « top » (2021)
Prizes and awards
. President of the Association Beaumarchais - SACD on 6.11.2023 for a 3-year term Elected to the SACD Board of Directors to represent the choreographic sector from 2010 to 2012 and from June 2020 to June 2023. First Vice-President of SACD in 2022.
. Grand prix du Syndicat professionnel de la critique de Théâtre, de Musique et de Danse for the piece WHA (2004)
. Member of the SYNDEAC National Council, in charge of the choreographic sector (December 1999 - June 2002)
. President of the Association des Centres Chorégraphiques Nationaux - ACCN (1997) Member of the Conseil Supérieur de la Danse (1995)
. Officier des Arts et des Lettres (1992)
. Grand Prix National de la Danse (1991)
. Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite (1989) Prix SACD de la Danse (1989)
. Ambassador of Poitou-Charentes (1989)
