Meet ghislain grellier: Ballet teacher, Choreographer & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with ghislain grellier and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi ghislain, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
Paintings, musics, architectures are my inspirations. I do practice different art forms around a theme that would help me create my choreographies. When I created the work Constellation, it actually started with a painting I made inspired by the constellations and the work of the artist Caroline Chariot-Dayez who creates oil paintings about the fold of fabrics. On my painting I work with the texture of paper to create a fabric texture. It is like a piece of fabric floating in the air and frozen on a canvas. In my choreographic work I made alive those texture by playing with the movement of the fabric. I believe it is an example of how other art practice help me create dance.
Since my young age, I had the chance to follow a musical education, mostly playing piano, listening to classical music and studying it. These knowledges are great supports to create dance. Indeed, I like looking at scores and analyzing them before I create a ballet piece. That is what I did in my show The Twelve Brothers. This show is created on a symphonic music from Siegmund von Hausegger, Naturasymphony. It was inspirational to read the layers created by this composer and using them to give depth and texture to the choreography.

My work is also really engaged into the relationship between people and generations. I am deeply interested in understanding the place of the community in our environment. Each time you come to a rehearsal, a new relationship is created between dancers, between the space, between collaborators, and with the choreographer. Each artist I am working with is bringing their own relationship with the world to the community and brings a part of their community into the project.
Being part of a community opens yourself up to questions about it. What is it? why am I part of it? with who am I sharing it and how can I engage myself in it? However, pointing a single one is not my primary interest. Indeed, I am researching its components and what could be the common link between people. That is why I am looking at what makes us part of the same world and what connections are between us as human beings. With live performances, different generations of audiences, with their own interests and backgrounds, are meeting in a same space to share an experience, a time together.

My work engages a relationship between live performance and images, in the form of video projections, applications, digital devices. The use of this technology is making the link between the “connected generation”, who is used to watching art on web platforms, and the more traditional one, who is used to the environment of venues.

Coming from traditional dance in France, I have always been interested in questioning my relationship with the dance world. I have always been interested in understanding the place of technology and image not just in live performances, but also to understand the evolution of dance creations and dance audiences.

More recently, I have been developing my work around the mythology of the ballet and its relationship with the 21st century. Ballet’s creations are constantly evolving and are using new technologies. As a choreographer, I am interested in transforming the audience’s perception of ballet.

When I was studying at UCLA, I wrote my master thesis, Technology in dance: an interesting tool for creating, on the use of technology in choreographic process. In this research, I am looking at the impact that technology has on the choreographer’s work and the audience. I have studied the choreographies of the French company AMCB, using video projections and augmented reality.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
There are many possibilities to become an artist and to. be creative. My background is one of the possibilities that can be done in France but not the only one. My path has been really great with beautiful moments and also difficult ones. I believe that you need to trust your guts and be 100% into your art practice. I have not always been like that and it is sometimes still difficult to trust yourself but now being more mature I can recognize when I need to believe in me, when I need to ask support from my peers and when I am wrong.

I have found myself deeply engaged into the history of the ballet repertoire, and ballet practices. I am teaching ballet to different generations as well as creating new narrative ballet work, using the technology of the 21st Century.
The dance world has always been changing and evolving, from the pioneers in modern dance, to the Russian ballet, but all questioned and pushed the boundaries of the dance. And I believe it is in some form what I am trying to do with my creations.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Los Angeles is an interesting city to visit. I have found beautiful sports all around. Getting a drink in the Downtown Brewery, going to the flower markets of Downtown LA. Sometimes I like going to a french coffee place to feel closer to home. I like hiking and LA is perfect for that with beautiful trails, some more touristic than others but always finding myself amazed by the views. I would definitively make my best friend see the all LA. LA is not only about Beverly Hills, Hollywood Boulevard or the Observatory, it is about small shops and beautiful small restaurants.

I love the beaches they are really different from where I am in France and I believe it is something to see, driving the PCH and just stopping to enjoy one of the beautiful sunsets LA is offering. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
When you decide to go professionally into the art world, the support of your community is the most important. Creating work is always about showing yourself to the world, and sometimes it can be overwhelming and make you doubt yourself. I had great teachers back in France who always tried to help me find myself. I would love to thank André Lafonta, who was a teacher at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, and who always believe in my abilities as dancer and as an artist.

I have to say that the support of my family is the most precious support I could have had. It is hard to jump into the dance world when you are 10 years old and deciding at 16 that is would be your career. And my family has been great with my choices and loving.

One thing that is beautiful with art is the time shared with our peers. Few years ago I created my first dance/music company with an opera singer, Romain Dayez. It was a beautiful time spent together trying to figure out what our artistic voices are, but also to support each other in difficult time and doubt time.

The journey of an artist is filled with discovering new artists, friends, mentors and sometimes people who drag you down. But it is what makes your work also vibrate, interact with people and question yourself. These meetings are key to continue love your passion, at least it is for me.

Website: www.grellierghislain.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghislaingrellier/?hl=fr

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghislain-grellier-a5800671

Image Credits
Charles Han