Biographies

Emilio Calcagno

Born in Catania in southern Italy, Emilio Calcagno began his career at the National Centre for Modern Dance in Angers (France), under the direction of Joëlle Bouvier and Régis Obadia, before joining the Ballet Peljocaj as a dancer in 1995. Having performed at the world’s most prestigious venues (Joyce Theater in New York, Sidney Opera house, Tel Aviv, etc), he then took on responsibility for pedagogical activities within the Ballet Preljocaj. From this position he gave birth to a number of cultural projects, including dance and writing in libraries, performances in museums and art galleries, as well as works on time and space in prisons. Furthermore, through the dance video lectures, he offers audiences a new look on the world of dance by means of an original analysis of choreographic works. In partnership with DEUST Théâtre, Emilio Calcagno has been a regular speaker at the Université de Provence in France since 1998. He is also a frequent guest of numerous organisations (e.g. Scenario Publico in Italy, the CNSM in Lyon, the Centre national de la danse in Paris, etc), intervening in such different capacities as professor, choreographer and jury member. Recent activities include collaboration with CIANT (International Centre for Art and New Technologies – Czech Republic) on a project linking dance, video and new technologies, set up in Prague in 2005. Since March of that year, Emilio Calcagno has been in charge of teaching at the European D.A.N.C.E. project, which also features Angelin Preljocaj, Frédéric Flamand, William Forsythe and Wayne Mac Gregor.

Recent works

Les ouvrières, choreography for 3 dancers, in partnership with the Théâtre Antoine Vitez, Aix-en-Provence, 2000 / Osso Buco, performance for 3 dancers and a musician, 2001 / Pedro & Paula, performance for 2 dancers, Balletheatro de Porto, Portugal, 2002 / K, solo act, commissioned by the Teatro Libero in Palermo, Italy, 2004 / Sève, choreography for 9 dancers created with the CNSM in Lyon at the Maison de la Danse, 2004 / Virus, choreography for the New Technologies Festival in Prague, April 2005 / Jeux, choreography for 3 dancers, created at the Opéra d’Avignon, June 2005.

Olivier Dubois

Born in Colmar in 1972, Olivier Dubois first undertook university training in foreign languages, before encountering the world of dance at a later stage and embarking on a rich and atypical career… from Karine Saporta to the Cirque du Soleil, and passing by the likes of Angelin Preljocaj, Andy Degroat, Nasser Martin-Gousset, as well as participating in Le lion et le rat by Dominique Boivin, as part of the Fables à la fontaine. At present, he collaborates essentially with Jan Fabre, both in creations and performances. He also designed a solo act (Pour tout l’or du monde) for the Festival d’Avignon 2006, as well as a duo (Féroces) with Christine Corday for the Esplanade in Saint-Etienne. Olivier Dubois also teaches and directs a number of workshops within dance companies and schools outside France. A comedian as well as a dancer, he has taken part in numerous plays and short films. In 2007 he was awarded the jury’s special prize by France’s union of art critics (theatre, music and dance) for his creation and interpretation of Pour tout l’or du monde.

Stéphane Blanquet

Born on May 15th 1973 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, Stéphane Blanquet is the author of numerous comic books and graphic works published by independent editors (L’Association, Cornélius, Alain Beaulet, etc). After an early start with the fanzine Atomik, he founded his own publishing house Chacal Puant at the age of 16, through which he published the works of several major players in alternative comics, such as Matt Konture and Blex Placid. In 1996, the publication of numerous young authors’ works under the label Monstrueuse is rewarded by the Alph’art of the best fanzine. Blanquet’s peculiar graphic world has seduced a number of French newspapers and magazines (Epok, Libération, Maximum, Télérama, Nova Magazine, Les Inrockuptibles…). Autobiographical narratives and bizarre deliriums are dealt with at a stroke, as illustrated by his recent Bouquet Bonheur edited by Cornélius, in some ways a return to the world of fairy tales. The author’s works also figure in numerous international publications, such as the prestigious US journals Blab! (Fantagraphics Books) and American Illustration. Since 1997, he has teamed with Olive in exploring the field of animated films. Having produced a number of short films (Le mélange des couleurs, Mon Placard, La Peau de Chagrin) and Histoires Muettes, a TV series of 26 one-minute episodes, the two artists are currently working on a feature-length film entitled Mauvaise Graine. Blanquet is particularly fond of strange objects. Since his very first exhibitions, he has always produced “volume works” in addition to his drawings and paintings. In recent years, for instance, he has designed a number of monster dolls... In parallel with his own creations, Blanquet manages the United Dead Artists editions with Olive, a worthy successor to the legendary Chacal Puant !

Publications

2005 : Monographie Lacrymale / 2004 : Troubles sous l'oreiller / 2003 : Le Noir Seigneur, Sur l'épiderme, Les Gens des Bois / 2002 : Bouquet Bonheur, Le Roi des Crabes, Bourrelet Comics / 2001 : Le Fond Du Jardin, Rétrographie, Morphologie Variable, La Nouvelle aux Pis / 2000 : Pancia, História muda, Le Fantôme des Autres / 1999 : Ça va mal, Mi Armario, Le Lombric / 1998 : Mi Yo Malo, Nasenbluten 1, A l'intérieur... des têtes / 1997 : Mon Placard, Guimauve 1, Viande froide et cie / 1996 : Les Gens des Bois, Mon Méchant Moi, Badadaboum / 1995 : Lui contre Maua!! , A l'intérieur... des têtes [new edition], Canned Monster / 1994 : Le Petit Livre, Ça va mal [new edition], Ultimatum Gangster Poche, Dirty Dog, L'Elastok, Harr / 1993 : Les Hommes, Microbes, Cave Woman, Caveman, Salive / 1992 : Sketch Book, Caveman [new edition] / 1991 : Les Bonnes Manières / 1990 : Une Jolie Histoire

Filmography

2003 : La Peau de Chagrin (10 min short film in cut-up paper) / 2001 : L'Épine de Succession (flash serial on visiodrome.com) / 2000 : Histoire Muette (Animated series of 26 one-minute episodes) coproduction with Canal + / 1999 : Mon Placard (8 min animated short film) / 1998 : Vivement l'an 2000 (four animations lasting 25 seconds each) / 1997 : Le mélange des couleurs (two-minute sequence for the film Dernier Cri)

Régis Loisel

Born in 1951 in Saint-Maixent (France), Régis Loisel began drawing Disney characters from a very young age. His career set off in 1972 when he moved to Paris. Then aged twenty, Loisel had his first plate published in Les Pieds Nickelés Magazine. The following year he briefly attended comics lessons at the university of Vincennes, where he met Patrick Cothias and Serge Le Tendre. The three soon became friends and began working together, publishing numerous short stories between 1974 and 1978 in the magazines Pilote, Mormoil, Pif Gadget, Tousse Bourin (a quarterly publication Loisel launched in the early 70s with Taffin, Cabanes, Loro and Le Tendre), Plop, Fluide, Glacial, Métal Hurlant. Often inspired by the realm of fantasy, a number of these short stories were collected in 1978 in Les Nocturnes, published by Kesserling.

In 1975, the first plates of La quête de l’oiseau du temps were published in the luxurious review Imagine, directed by Rodolphe. Throughout these years, numerous illustrations by Loisel appeared in French press (Télérama, Absolu, etc), publishing houses (L’Ecole des Loisirs, Hachette, Princesse, etc) and advertisements. In 1979, he established the workshop Bergame with Michel Rouge and Olivier Taffin. Two years later he began working on Pyrénée, which remains an unfinished story, while also teaming with Serge Le Tendre in the drawing of Jonas Folies, a series of jokes on one plate published in Jonas. Part of this series was then reedited in 1990 in the magazine Hop ! His partnership with Le Tendre also gave birth to a new version of La Quête de l’Oiseau du Temps, published by Dargaud. Loisel’s vigorous style gives rise to fascinating characters and grandiose sceneries that stimulate the reader’s imagination. Shattering the traditional paradigms of heroic fantasy, he soon established himself as one his generation’s major authors. Success was round the corner, as the 5-volume series sold 17,000 copies. Further works soon followed, including L’offrande, published by Trihan in 1984, short stories edited by Circus (1986) and Pilote & Charlie (1988), illustrations for the press, theatre posters, silkscreen prints, etc. In 1989, Humanoïdes Associés published Troubles Fêtes, a collection of erotic stories and illustrations. That year Loisel left Paris to settle down in Perros-Guirec.

In 1990, the author embarked alone on a highly personal interpretation of Sir James Matthew Barrie’s famous novel Peter Pan, later edited by Vents d’Ouest. At the same time he took part in the collective album Mali-Mélo, the journal of a voyage in Mali. In 1993 he illustrated George-Philippe Taladiart’s erotic work La Dernière Goutte est toujours pour le slip (published by La Sirène), which he considered to be a masterpiece of laughter. After an 11-year interruption, 1998 saw the release of L’Ami Javin, the second cycle of La Quête de l’Oiseau du Temps, for which Loisel acted as co-scriptwriter, while also handling the story board and the colours. In November of the same year he entrusted Philipe Sternis with the task of putting Pyrénée into picture, while he himself embarked on the writing of scripts for different authors. In recent years, he was able to fulfil a childhood dream by working on two Disney cartoons, Mulan and Atlantis. Other activities in the audiovisual field include participation on the story board of the film Le Petit Poucet and the creation of the video game Gift (edited by Cryon).

Having spent several years in Brittany and the Tours region, Régis Loisel currently lives in Montreal. In January 2002 his career was rewarded with the Grand Prix at the annual comics festival in Angoulême (France), which he was invited to preside on the following year.