Franco has a self-taught path. He discovered hip hop in 1984 and took on the costumes of rapper and dancer in turn. His path is filled with encounters that are essential to his career: choreographers such as Zaza Disdier (Cie Articulations) or Eric Mézino (Cie E.go) but especially Céline Mousseau, with whom he founded the company Engrenage in 2003. Together, they laid the foundations of a company with an authentic approach, based on mutual trust and artistic convictions.

 

In 2004, he met Marie Houdin with whom he co-wrote several shows:  » Il était une fois à l’Ouest « , 2005,  » Histoire courte « , 2005,  » Seul à sol « , 2006,  » Matières « , 2006,  » Histoire courte…version longue « , 2007,  » Écoute…  » and  » Zoom « , 2008,  » Soul N” Pepper « , 2012. From 2009, the two choreographers separated their approach and asserted an individual choreographic signature.

 

In 2012 Franco signs the show  » Strange « , a trio for 3 hip hop dancers, then in 2016, he commits himself to a new choreographic project,  » Fluide Complexe « , which marks his first collaboration with Élodie Beaudet, an Afro dancer, and opens him to another musical and gestural universe. Franco also undertook to remodel his solo « Seul à Sol » to include his new influences.

 

In 2017, he sets up impromptu dances that land wherever they are not expected and embarks on the project « Groove Time Connection » in which he is MC, dancer and musician, inviting the audience to feel the groove.

 

In 2019, the new choreographic project in which he engages, « Community », is for him a way to continue his commitment to continuity in a positive and open « Hip hop » by bringing together techniques, people and multiple desires, with the experience of a dancer-choreographer who crosses the currents of an evolving culture for over thirty years.

Choreographer – Dancer – Musician

It was whilst playing the drums with her musician father that she began to grasp the concept of rhythm at around the age of six. In 1995, she discovered West African dance during an exchange with the Wamdé troupe from Burkina Faso.

 

From 2001 onwards, she took part in workshops on Guinean, Malian, traditional Mandinka and contemporary African dance with dancers and choreographers such as Seydou Boro, Norma Claire, Richard Anegbele, Evelyne Mambo and Merlin Nyakam… She undertook two trips lasting several months to Senegal and The Gambia in 2005 and 2007, where she trained in dance and dum-dum drumming with the Wakili troupe and the choreographer Apaye Songo. At the same time, she took part in creative projects combining dance, song and percussion, such as the Wassa troupe with Ivorian artists.

From 2010 onwards, she began to develop her professional career, alternating between dance-percussion projects and teaching, whilst seeking to develop her own choreographic language, heavily influenced by the rhythmic approach and the release of energy found in African dance.

In 2011, she completed the CEFEDEM Bretagne / Pays de la Loire training course (early childhood development and joint introduction to dance and music) and the professional training course (Afro-contemporary dance) with Antipodes Paris and the choreographer Norma Claire. She joined the cast of the show “Afro-breizh” – Cie Dounia by Fatima Legzhal – and the Franco-Ivorian troupe “Ayéna”, led by the Ivorian percussionist Baba Touré (traditional repertoire of Côte d’Ivoire).

At the same time, she began her career as a bassist with the groups “Shandoo” (folk) and “La robe verte” (Afro-folk). In 2014, she joined the group “Térikan” (Mandingue Afro-funk fusion) with the Guinean singers Aminata Mengue and Camara.

She joined the Engrenages company in 2016 and co-choreographed the show “Fluide complexe” with hip-hop dancer Franck Guizonne, alias Franco, which premiered in 2017. In 2018, they created “Groove time”, an interactive show (Afrobeat-funk). In 2019, work began on the choreographic piece “Communauté”, which premiered in 2021 as a show for five dancers with a background in hip-hop. In 2020, the “Groove Time” project evolved into an orchestral version, “Kinyonga”, bringing together nine artists for a dance concert featuring a repertoire of Afro-groove musical compositions. 2020 also marked a new collaboration with Cie Dounia on the “XY” project. In 2021, she joined singer-songwriter Stellis Groseil’s “Niomoye” (jazz-world) project as a bassist. In 2022, Elodie began writing a video-dance project connecting a city’s architectural heritage to its intangible heritage and to a contemporary choreographic and musical aesthetic. In 2024, she joined the CND’s choreographer training programme “Special Edition #8” under Mathilde Monnier and Stéphane Bouquet. She also choreographed a performance with the jazz quintet Opsid and directed a short choreographic film as part of the EAC projects run by the Ille-et-Vilaine department, alongside saxophonist Zdeněk Tománek and double bassist Julien Pinel. This collaboration sparked a desire to move towards a joint creative project. The trio continues its exploration of the manipulation of textiles and the dialogue between live music and dance within the project La Mécanique du Poulpe. She also performs in the Ibex Walia project (contemporary Ethio-jazz).

Alongside her creative projects, she designs and oversees educational and community-based initiatives in partnership with other artists and disciplines (music, graffiti, video, etc.) and various performances.

 

Elodie Beaudet’s choreographic approach

Her choreographic approach is rooted in the fundamentals of dances drawn from the traditional repertoire of West Africa (grounding, postures, energy, relationship to rhythm and music, connection to the group, repetition, etc.), as well as in their symbolism and function.

It stems from a desire to breathe life into these movements and sensations and develop them into a new language of movement and narrative, connected to contemporary themes that interest and challenge her. She blends this repertoire with the new influences that shape her, bringing together the expansive, fluid movements of Mandinka dance with the lines and energy of hip-hop. She enjoys taking movements from dance or everyday life, immersing herself in them, then breaking free from conventions, deconstructing established paths and opening up new avenues of expression. Creating a language, a voice, that allows her to convey stories and emotions.

In her workshops, she starts with a few basic principles that a group can quickly grasp and then suggests ways to move beyond them and return to them. This involves a back-and-forth between the group, which has a shared foundation, and the individuals who can discover other techniques that resonate with them. She places great importance on each person connecting with their own feelings, the space around them, others who can support or inspire them, and the chosen soundscape. The starting point for the creative process can then be an action, an emotion, an idea, or even those things we experience or imagine every day.

Born in Pontoise, he grew up by the sea and took up the saxophone at a very young age at the Guérande music school. His teacher, Christophe Havard, soon passed on his passion for improvisation to him. With him, Maël discovered not only jazz but also funk and contemporary music… And over the course of 10 years, he learnt an enormous amount from him. After his high school diploma, he headed to Rennes to pursue a degree in musicology, followed by a DEM in Jazz in Saint-Brieuc, the creation of numerous musical projects and many travels… Performing both on stage with reggae, progressive jazz and funk bands, and on the streets with various brass bands, Maël retains an overflowing, visible and infectious energy.

At Engrenage[s], he fronts the project: OOZ BAND

 

A classically trained percussionist who studied at the conservatoire for around twelve years, he has performed with symphony orchestras. Today, having completed various training courses and masterclasses, he works primarily as a drummer. Influenced by African-American music as well as rock and classical music, he has been playing and touring for several years with various groups. On the streets, with the Frappovich, the Fonk’Farons and the Red Line Crossers. On stage, he drums with Fonk’Electrick and La piste à Dansoire (Mobil Casbah collective). Geoffroy also taught drums for 10 years at the MJC Bréquigny in Rennes.

 

He is currently working on a new street art show that blends swing music and cooking…

 

At Engrenage[s], he leads the following projects:

[Biographie en cours]

Noëmie Bourigault porte les projets de la Compagnie Sapage Nocturne :

Trained as a drummer and percussionist, Benoît first discovered human beatbox before training in body percussion. Through his travels, he has also honed his skills in the music of New Orleans and the Balkans. For the past few years, he has worked with street performance companies such as Compagnie Blaka, the brass band A la gueule du ch’val and Cirque Baraka 87. His versatility now allows him to perform

with the exotica group Tiki Paradise, Les Frappovitch and the Collectif Volkanik.

 

He leads the projects of Compagnie Sapage Nocturne: