A 43-year-old French choreographer-director has not tired of finding fresh ways to engage audiences and challenge the form of live performance itself. His latest work, titled Passage, showcases his unique style while exploring themes of balance, presence, and the essence of childhood wonder. Many of Bourgeois’ performances have been touring festivals for years. He tends to design elaborate theatrical machines that become focal points of his works.
Growing up in the Jura region of eastern France, Bourgeois experienced the impact of his parents’ separation, which influenced his artistic journey. The family home had new owners in Cirque Plume, a lively circus troupe. Witnessing this sale only strengthened his commitment to the noisy and submerged universe of performance art. Through his work, Bourgeois seeks to create an emotional connection to the past, drawing people in with a nostalgic longing for the simplicity, wonders, and imagination of childhood.
The first passage features a striking revolving mirrored door that captures your attention. On the other side, pole dancer Yvonne Smink beautifully hangs, swings, balances and transposes her performance into exhilarating exploration of boundless potential. The spinning stage in this play is an antique theatrical gimmick. Bourgeois has successfully woven it into his modern dream.
Bourgeois’ skill at conveying the power of movement and emotion is just as visible in the pieces showcased prior to “Messengers.” In Ellipse, dancers don costumes that look like lifesize Weebles, created to wiggle and twirl without ever tipping over. Similarly, in Celui Qui Tombe (He Who Falls), performers navigate a rotating wooden platform that tilts unexpectedly, challenging their balance in a striking display of physical prowess.
His works and programming have achieved considerable acclaim for their artistic integrity. Even more so, they sparkle with eloquence when brought to life through the digital medium. Bourgeois admits that social media platforms—namely Instagram, with its emphasis on the visual—are a powerful tool for him to promote his work. He remarks, “If you use just a frame of a video, it’s easy to make a comparison.” This revelation speaks to the changing place of performance art today, in a deeply digital world.
Over the years Bourgeois has collaborated with iconic artists such as Harry Styles, Coldplay, and Selena Gomez. He has worked with high-fashion luxury brand Louis Vuitton, which definitively establishes him within the industry. His work often reflects deep emotional undercurrents, as he notes, “Behind the superficial pop veneer of the song, there’s a great sense of despair.” This complexity deepens his performances, calling on audiences to meet him on a base, intellectual and emotional level.
When speaking about his artistic vision, Bourgeois cannot help but zero in on the interplay of presence and absence as essential counterpoints to performance. In art, suspension is the physical quality of incompleteness or lack of weight. If we think in terms of temporality, suspension is complete presence. I believe this hybrid between opposite of dimension and pure dimension is such as a tiny glimpse about what forever seems like. This philosophy informs how he approaches building each individual piece—to “capture the now” and “amplify the now” for audiences.
Bourgeois’ artistic practice is marked by the radical innovation of subject matter and ideas. He states simply, “What is original is the treatment and the creative process.” That innovative mindset might be what most clearly distinguishes him in a top-tier field of candidates.
As he continues to develop new works and showcase them across various festivals, Bourgeois remains dedicated to exploring the intersection of dance and physicality. He reflects on his artistic journey with a sense of longing: “In a way I was looking for a way to get back home.” This sentiment resonates throughout his performances, inviting audiences to experience their own journeys through movement and expression.