Valérie Castan

Valérie Castan choreographic artist – audiodescriptor –

Trained at the CNDC in Angers in 1986, her career has been made up of a wide range of stage experiences and artistic collaborations as a performer and then assistant with, among others Philippe Decouflé, les Ballets Redha, Pierre Doussaint, l’Esquisse, Loic Touzé, Christian Trouillas, Olivia Grandville, Eszter Salamon, Daniel Larrieu, Mié Coquempot, Mickaël Phelippeau, Antonia Baehr, Gaëtan Bulourde, Gérald Kurdian, Pauline Brun and more recently Myriam Soulange and Jonas Chéreau.

After completing a Master’s degree in dance at Paris 8, with a view to broadening her skills, she took a course in audiodescription methodology for cinema at Esit-Paris-Dauphine, which she transposed to audiodescription for choreographic performances.

Since 2012, she has been writing descriptive texts for choreographic performances and orating them live.
The texts are reread by members of the audience concerned. Prior to the show, she offers a tactile tour of the stage, as well as a workshop to physically “walk through” certain moments of the show and familiarize oneself with the descriptive text of the choreography.

She also teaches audiodescription methodology for choreographic performances in various training courses and develops artistic projects based on audiodescription.

Recipient of the Centre national de la danse Pantin- Nouvelles Ressources grant in 2013

Recipient of the Yves Brieux- Ustaritz grant from the Fondation de France in partnership with the Maison de la Danse de Lyon in 2015.