Susan Buirge

Susan Buirge has danced since her childhood. She discovered modern dance while studying at Minnesota University, then going on to study at the Juilliard School in New York. From 1963 to 1967, she danced in the Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre. From 1967 onwards, she has pursued her own path, refining her work, steering it towards the repetitive processes and diversifying her explorations. In 1970, she settled in France where she has developed a large part of her work, including Parcelle de Ciel (1985) which clinched her reputation. A conceptualist, she joined the abstract minimalist movements while also defending a sensual style of dance. In 1989, she travelled to discover and embrace other traditions (Ethiopia, Greece, Syria, Japan, Taiwan and India). 

The first resident choreographer at the Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto (1992), she found in Japan a country conducive to her research into the relationship between traditional art and contemporary art, particularly for Le Cycle des Saisons (1994-1998), a masterful four-part work for seven Japanese contemporary dancers and an ensemble of Gagaku musicians. She refounded in France a company for which she choreographed Le jour d’avant (1999), followed by Le jour d’après (2000), L’œil de la forêt (2002), Soli (including 3 performances, 2005), A l’abri des vents and At a Cloud Gathering (2006). 

Her notebooks were published by the Editions Le bois d’Orion: En allant de l’ouest à l’est (1996), Dans l’espace des saisons (1998) and L’œil de la forêt (2002). Susan Buirge has always enjoyed a close relationship with contemporary music. 

Her friend Philip Glass composed for her the music for En allant de l’ouest à l’est (1976). She then commissioned musics from Ragnar Grippe for Lapse (1978), Restes (1979), Tamis (1980) and Des Sites (1983); from Jean-Yves Bosseur for Charge Alaire (1982, presented at the Aix-Les Milles aerodrome); from Luc Ferrari for Les yeux de Mathieu (1984, a film for La Sept); from Steve Lacy and his sextet for Artémis (1988, Grande Halle de la Villette); from Marian S. Kouzan for Grand Exil (1990); from Patrick Marcland for Le jour d’avant (1999) and Le jour d’après (2000), and from Jean-François Laporte (L’œil de la forêt, 2002). She also collaborated with Tomihisa Hida for an adaptation of Gagaku music for the four pieces of Le Cycle des Saisons (1994 to 1998).