photography: Philippe Vogelenzang
Antonin Rioche
is a French storyteller: director, choreographer, and writer. He finds interest in all art forms, particularly in photography, film and fashion.
Born in Angers in 1994, he trained as a dancer at Ballet Junior of Geneva where he had the opportunity to explore the work of choreographers like Roy Assaf, Marina Mascarell, Alexander Ekman, Hofesh Shechter, Ioannis Mandafounis, Crystal Pite and Mats Ek. Then as a freelancer with Olivier Dubois, Sasha Waltz & Guests, Michael-Keegan Dolan, Theo Clinkard and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
He created his debut solo piece, ‘Ohboy!’ during the Eastman Summer Intensive 2017, after being invited by Cherkaoui, which resulted to be a great success and a milestone in his professional career. The piece was created for Benjamin Behrends and inspired by his personal experience of his freelance life as a dancer, the solo talks about his relationship with loneliness and the difference between being alone and feeling lonely. Later on, in 2022, Korzo Theater took over the production and continued on a dutch tour with the support of Moving Futures Festival. Based on this piece, he later released a short film in 2017 in collaboration with H7O7films, which was selected and awarded by several film festivals around the world.
Antonin creates through different lenses of expression. Movement is the root of creation but not automatically its starting point. His work often departs from writing a text translating his thoughts, emotions and personal experiences. From there, poetic interpretations emerge about general human emotions. He always approaches his creations by being in a constant dialogue with his inner world and seeing beauty in every outcome; “as long as you invest your time, focus and leave space for contemplation and growth, beauty will emerge organically”.
Since 2018, Antonin has been a house choreographer at Korzo Theater in Den Haag, Netherlands and his works have been supported by NDT & Holland Dance Festival. During his journey he had the opportunity to create “The Others” and “Finally a Sign of Life” for the Korzo yearly program; Here We Live and Now. Then in 2021, Rioche created “Huidhonger”, a piece for Conny Janssen Danst and in the same year, he was invited by Korzo and Nederlands Dans Theater to create his first full-evening performance; “Glitter” a questioning on fame, acknowledgement and the fear of time passing by. Its premiere took place online during Covid-19 through CaDance via Korzo live stream where it reached a worldwide audience. Adored by many, the piece was described as an authentic composition with a touch of humor and depth, intense emotions, sublimated by each performer and through their personal childhood experiences. In 2022, he premiered a new full-length performance, co-produced by Nederlands Dans Theater called; “Ohgirl!” an intimate solo piece about anxiety and the fear of missing out, questioning the weight that people sometimes carry on our shoulders.
Antonin loves cinema and draws inspiration from filmmaking. He is also known as a short-movie director, as he likes to translate his dance pieces into short movies, like "Finally a Sign of life”, and “The Research Project; The Leftovers”. Both were selected to be screened during Cinedans and Dance Days Chania in 2022.
He is very interested and actively involved in the development of educational programs by teaching and choreographing for schools and workshops. He always aims to create a healthy and inspiring environment in order to help young dancers to unfold their skills. His workshops have a pedestrian approach to the dance theater through somatic movement research. He often incorporates breathing exercises, yoga and meditation, all of which are designed to support mental clarity in order to connect with the physical body. Since a few years, Antonin collaborates with schools and junior ballets and his works have been introduced internationally at Juilliard (New York), Codarts (Rotterdam), ZHDK - Zurich University of Art, Fontys (Tilburg), Sead (Salzburg), Young Talent Project / NDT & Koninklijke Conservatorium (The Hague), Dart (Berlin), Acts (Paris), Iwanson International (Munich) and also Adda (Barcelona). In addition to that, Antonin works yearly in collaboration with the B12 Festival in Berlin. During the summer of 2023, he will create a new work with international dancers that have the opportunity to join his creative process for ten days and the outcome will be presented at Dock11.
saison2023/2024
Antonin's next steps will be like a “grand jeté” as he decided to move to Paris where he will have the opportunity to broaden and develop his company ‘Funny People’, a platform for collaboration curated and directed by himself.
‘Ohgirl!’ will be touring in Biarritz, France in September 2023 during the dance festival Le Temps d’Aimée.
In January 2024, his piece ‘Glitter’ will return on stage, supported by Korzo and welcome by Holland Dance Festival, offering the opportunity to finally present the piece to a live audience which then will continue on a Dutch tour throughout February and March.
He is also preparing a new duet titled : “We are doing great” in collaboration with Emilie Leriche.