Dance teachers
Marion Muzac
Marion Muzac trained at the Conservatory and then pursued a university course in commerce and communication. In New York she studied the technique of Merce Cunningham, and in Toulouse she trained at the Center for Choreographic Development. She teaches modern dance at the Toulouse Conservatory and at isdaT, where she became director of the dance department in January 2022.
Since 2001, she has been simultaneously carrying out educational activities and choreographic projects. She met Jérôme Brabant while participating as a performer in a work by Marco Berrettini. They founded the UND und ballet, and together created Roomy Dancing in 2002, GALA in 2003 and Pavillon in 2004. In 2008, with saxophonist David Haudrechy, they created the hero hero duo, regularly presented in schools, colleges and high schools. In 2010, she co-developed Le Sucre du Printemps with visual artist Rachel Garcia, a choreographic project for 27 young dancers. After Toulouse, Le Sucre du Printemps was staged in Düsseldorf, in Paris at the Chaillot National Theatre in collaboration with the National Dance Center (CN D) in Pantin and in Ramallah in Palestine. Following this creation, she made a documentary film, 17 springs, with film director Sophie Laloy, on the initiatory journey of a young 17-year-old dancer who enters the adult world through the experience of dance. In 2016, she came up with Ladies First, a creation for 20 teenage girls who pay tribute to the pioneers women in the history of contemporary dance. This project is presented in partnership with National Choreographic Development Centers (CDCN) and the Chaillot National Theatre. With Let’s Folk!, a 2018 creation, she questions public access to cultural codes and proposes working around so-called “popular” dances by combining choreographic performance and public participation. From 2018 to 2022, Marion Muzac was an associated artist at the National Stage of La Rochelle where the work Étreinte(s) allowed 14 amateur and professional dancers to share the stage. With this project, she wished to highlight fundamental gestures such as hugging us in the all-digital age. That same year, she created the small form MU which explores popular culture through dance. Halfway between dance show, concert and visual performance, MU is a hybrid form, changing and enigmatic, a bridge between ancestral and modern mythologies. In 2019, she was an associated artist at the Estive National Stage of Foix and Ariège and at the Rive Gauche Theater, Labeled Scene of Saint-Étienne du Rouvray. The CDCN—Le Gymnase as part of the Loop network commissioned Marion Muzac to make a project for very early childhood: Petit B was created in October 2022.
Marion Muzac was named Chevallier of the Order of Arts and Letters in September 2017.
Anna Khlestkina
Transdisciplinary artist (performer, director, actress, dancer, choreographer, curator of educational processes, singer).
In 2007, she graduated from the Boris Shchukin Higher Theater Institute as a theater and film actress. From 2015 to 2019, she followed additional training as a theater, film and television director at Boris Yukhananov’s Individual Directing Workshop.
After receiving her first degree, she worked for 8 years as an actress at the Taganka Theater in Moscow, where she interacted with directors such as Yuri Lyubimov, Tadashi Suzuki, Tonino Guerra and Tony Harrisson. Alongside her acting activity, since 2013, she has conducted research on contemporary dance practices, participating as a dancer in projects by choreographers such as Olga Tsvetkova, Claudia Castellucci, Kanako Suzuki, Silvia Costa, Simone Mousset. Since 2019, Anna has been creating her works as a conceptual theater director. In 2021, she participated as a choreographer in the theatrical creation Diminution of the world by Marina Davydova for the MOÑ theater in Kazan, and also became the author of the choreography of the show as part of the exhibition of the artistic group North-7 at the Art4 art gallery in Moscow. In 2021, as a curator, she organized Social Ballet classes, in which the rigidity and elitism inherent in the traditional approach to classical ballet teaching are rethought and quality practice becomes accessible to amateurs.
Since 2022, she is based in France as an artist in exile. In 2022-2024 she is an associated artist at isdaT as part of the PAUSE program.
Within the isdaT dance unit she gives improvisation and composition classes focused on unconditional and spontaneous movement, the limits of the dance discipline and the quality of performative presence.
Charlie-Anastasia Merlet
Trained at the Nîmes Conservatory in classical dance then at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMD de Paris), in contemporary dance, Charlie-Anastasia Merlet developed her career as a dancer and performer with Laura Scozzi, Anna Fayard and Pedro Pauwels.
In 2012 she co-founded the company Les Gens Charles with Benjamin Forgues. Together, they created the pieces La Gêne et la Joie (2015), À poils et à chaleur (2016), Anatomie de l’ennui ou comment j’ai avalé des spaghettis avec une paille (2016), See you Soon (2018), GAGAGA (2019) et Forever (2022). They also collaborated on the writing of amateur pieces such as HB12, HB18 and Le Virmateur ta figure de danseur. Between 2017 and 2019, the company participated in the Prototype and Dialogue choreographic research program at Royaumont Abbey, directed by Hervé Robbe.
Since 2015, Charlie-Anastasia Merlet has been coordinating the Regular Dancer Training (RDT). This system, developed by the company Les Gens Charles, offers daily classes intended for professional dancers, as well as those in the process of becoming professionals. The RDT provides a valuable opportunity to improve the skills and maintain the physical shape of artists, providing them with a framework of regular training and support tailored to their specific needs.
A state graduate in classical and contemporary dance since 2013, Charlie-Anastasia Merlet obtained the Certificate of Aptitude (CA) issued by the Lyon Conservatory (CNSMD de Lyon) in 2022.
Christine Gaudichon
Christine Gaudichon, graduated from the Irène Popard school in 1981, continued her training by learning the techniques of Merce Cunningham and José Limon in New York, as well as at the Maurice Béjart school in Mudra Dakar. After returning to France in 1984, she settled in Toulouse, where she danced for various companies including J.-M. Matos, P. Fontaine and P. Delay. She also founded her own company and created her own choreographic works.
As a holder of the Certificate of Aptitude (CA) she teaches contemporary dance to a variety of audiences and venues, including amateurs such as children, teenagers and adults in associations and private schools. She also teaches actors-in-training for the Théâtre Sorano in Toulouse and takes part in training dancers for Art Danse, the Toulouse Conservatory and isdaT.
Thierry Vosdey
After a multidisciplinary training (modern jazz, contemporary, classical, tap dance, etc.) started in Toulouse and continued in Paris, Thierry Vosdey began a career as a professional dancer in the sphere of music hall, operetta and musical comedy. Throughout his career, he has danced for various companies and also worked in the entertainment industry in France and worldwide.
Since returning to Toulouse, after a 12-year career and 5 years of contracts on cruise ships, he has performed in many cabarets and then worked at the Casino Barrière Theater, first as a dancer and then as a coach. At the same time, he was a choreographer in the show FEET — The history of the Jazz dance.
In addition to the stage activity, he became interested in teaching practice which led him to obtain the State Diploma (DE) in jazz dance, then the Certificate of Aptitude (CA) and the 2nd cycle higher diploma in pedagogy in choreographic art at the Lyon Conservatory (CNSMD de Lyon). He currently teaches in several schools and cultural centers, as well as at isdaT where he works as a dance pedagogy teacher. He also participates in and chairs the jury for dance conservatory exams, the Technical Aptitude Exam (EAT) as well as the State Diploma (DE).
Mélissa Delfau
Mélissa Delfau is a state-certified jazz dance teacher with a Certificate of Aptitude (CA), and has been teaching in a variety of settings for over twenty years. Trained mainly in jazz and contemporary dance, at the same time she followed a university course in psychology. Today, she simultaneously teaches, choreographs and directs, and also is regularly invited as a jury member (conservatories, EAT, DE…). As a teacher trainer at isdaT, she guides students towards the State Diploma (DE) in dance teaching.
Artistic coordinator of La Fabrique and guest artist on numerous artistic and cultural education projects in partnership with the Arts Development Association of Tarn (ADDA du Tarn) and the Ministry of National Education of France, she designs, coordinates and evaluates cross-disciplinary choreographic projects combining dance and collaboration with other arts. She created her solo 2M2 HABITABLES, which brings together dance and architecture (programmed for the national architecture day in 2019). In November 2020, she defended a master’s thesis What place should error have in dance teaching?.
Barbara Schwarz
Barbara Schwarz is a choreographer whose classical training took place in Paris with Nina Tikanova. She has danced at the Rhine Ballet, the Bordeaux Grand Theatre and the Toulouse Capitole Theatre. She has held the Certificate of Aptitude (CA) since 1983 and is currently a teacher at the Agen District Conservatory. She is also a trainer for the State Diploma (DE) at isdaT and Bordeaux Aquitaine College of Music and Dance (PESMD).
As a lecturer in dance history, Barbara Schwarz shares her expertise and passion with a wide audience. As a jury member, she has taken part in dance competitions of various conservatories and the National Dance Centre (CN D). She is also a member of the jury for the Technical Aptitude Exam (EAT). As a choreographer, she has worked on CN D variations. Her rich and varied career in the world of dance makes her a key figure in this artistic milieu.
Guillaume Ferran
Guillaume Ferran trained in ballet at the Paris Opera Ballet School, then at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMD de Paris). For five years, he was a member of the corps de ballet of the Opéra du Capitole in Toulouse, under the direction of Nanette Glushak, then for six years of the corps de ballet of the Nice Opera ballet, under the direction of Éric Vu-An.
During his career, he danced the great ballets of the classical repertoire (Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Raymonda), neo-classical choreographies (G. Balanchine, J. Kylian, J. Robbins) and contemporary works (L. Childs, D. Bombana, N. Christies, D. Roden, N. Duato).
He obtained his State Diploma (DE) at the Rosella Hightower National Centre for Dance in Cannes (PNSD Rosella Hightower) in 2018, and teaches at the Conservatories of Amiens and Cergy-Pontoise. He also gives dance masterclasses at the Centre des Arts Vivants and Dansez Maintenant in Paris, and regularly sits on end-of-cycle juries at conservatories. Since September 2023, he has been professor of classical dance at the Toulouse Conservatory. To continue perfecting his teaching skills, he has been accepted to train for the Certificate of Aptitude (CA) at the Lyon Conservatory (CNSMD de Lyon) in 2022.
Marion Cayre
Marion Cayre is a teacher of contemporary dance, stretching and muscle strengthening, as well as a trainer in the anatomy and physiology of dance. Her background always balances biology and dance. For over thirty years she has been weaving her dance from the threads of numerous teachers and choreographers in classes, workshops and in creativity, mainly in modern dance but also in other forms (modern jazz, hip-hop, butoh, oriental dance, etc.). She also pursued a Master’s degree in Biology with the prospect of teaching.
In both of these fields, her main motivation is to pass on her knowledge. She then obtained her State Diploma (DE) in dance teaching in 2014 from isdaT. At the same time, she strengthened her training in human anatomy related to physical practices with Hélène Laguanelle and Blandine Calais-Germain. Since 2018, she has become a trainer in anatomy and physiology for future dance teachers at isdaT, and occasionally takes part in other training courses for dancers, circus artists, musicians and others. Every year, she is also a jury member for the Anatomy-Physiology exams as part of the DE dance teacher diploma.
Nadine Sers
Nadine Sers, artist-dancer-teacher with a State Diploma (DE) in jazz dance, also holds a PhD in Political Science and a degree in History. A specialist in the history of Western dance and African art, she gives courses and lectures. Her work is rooted in field experience and enriched by the latest research in the humanities. Convinced that dance is extraordinarily meaningful, she never ceases to question it in all its aspects. Her courses in dance history make the link with the realities of the contemporary non-European world. She has been teaching this discipline at isdaT since 2005.
She also offers courses in Fundamental Pedagogy, enabling second-year dance students to base their pedagogical thinking on advances in the human sciences: psychopedagogy, sociology, philosophy, psychology, history, and on the work and experience of major pedagogues (scenarios, role-playing, text analysis, etc.). She is also a Neuro-Linguistic Programming trainer and lecturer.
Sophie Rousseau
Musician and dancer, Sophie Rousseau taught musical training at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMD de Paris) in the choreographic studies department from 1990 to 2021. She is a trainer in the context of continuing education and the State Diploma (DE) in dance and music, notably at isdaT. Reflection on the relationship between music and dance, associated with teaching and creative practices, is the central axis of her professional and artistic life.
Founder and artistic director of the Compagnie Maître Guillaume in 1983, which brings together professional musicians and dancers, she is responsible for the artistic direction of five recordings as well as the publication of two reference works. A specialist in French Renaissance dances, she worked in the early music department of the Lyon Conservatory (CNSMD de Lyon) from 1988 to 1993, and from 1992 to 2001 in the early music department of the Tours Conservatory as well as in numerous practical trainings in France and abroad.
David Lobera
Musician, dancer and teacher, David Lobera aims to weave links between these three practices. After completing his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in clarinet and a Master’s degree in pedagogy in Belgium, he held the position of assistant clarinetist and bass clarinet with the Israel Netanya Kibbutz Orchestra from 2016 to 2020. He worked as a clarinet teacher at the Israel Conservatory, and at the same time trained in contemporary dance at the Naim Studio in Tel Aviv.
Since 2021, David Lobera has been living in Toulouse, where he obtained the Technical Aptitude Exam (EAT) at isdaT in 2022. Currently, he continues to work as a professional clarinetist, collaborating with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre del Vallés, as well as taking part in artistic projects as a musician and dancer. He also carries out educational activity as a clarinet teacher at the Toulouse Conservatory in the frame of the Play Music program. In 2023, he became a music training teacher for dancers within the isdaT dance teacher training course.
Florent Tisseyre
Florent Tisseyre followed musical training in classical percussion at the Toulouse Conservatory where in 1999 he was awarded first prize. He also obtained his State Diploma in dance accompaniment. For the past twenty years, he has been accompanying dance classes at the Toulouse Conservatory. He is also a trainer at isdaT as part of the training for the State Diploma of dance and music teacher (DE in dance accompaniment). He has trained in Latin percussion as well, particularly Afro-Cuban, with G. Maldonado and J.C. Martinez.
In parallel with his teaching activities, Florent Tisseyre leads a significant career as a performer. In the field of classical music and more particularly early music, he joined Les Sacqueboutiers, an ensemble of old brass instruments of Toulouse in 2005, and became one of its regular members. He participates alongside in numerous concerts and recordings. For the past two decades, he has also been a regular collaborator with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. Also as an eclectic musician, he navigates between jazz, salsa, funk and Caribbean music, often joining several ensembles.
Caroline Dassieu
Caroline Dassieu is a universal artist, dancer, choreographer and teacher. She trained at the James Carlès Choreographic Center in Toulouse. During her career, she has had the opportunity to dance for various choreographers and companies specializing in street art, including companies Islam Abad, Commandos Percu, United Artist Company Belgium, as well as collaborations with the Mix’art Myrys collective. Over the past ten years, she has acquired a wealth of stage experience through a variety of techniques and aesthetics. She explores somatic practices such as Body-Mind Centering (BMC), and collaborates with Sophie Centenero on several dance-BMC workshops.
A state-qualified teacher in 2013, she teaches in diverse contexts, and becomes a trainer in dance classes for children at isdaT. That same year, she joined Empreintes, a dance and music company, first as a performer and then as co-author. At the same time, she is involved in different educational projects with children, in particular for school education. She develops the sensibility of movement through the imaginary, the sensory and the relationship with music. She collaborated with the La Locomotive company on a creation for young audiences. In 2020, she created her own company, where she deepened her choreographic research on the dialogue between dance and music, with musician Yannick Berbié. In 2020, this collaboration led to the creation of the Dans mon corps. Since 2020, she has led cultural projects around contemporary dance and the world of shows from the company La Gouttelette in schools as well as educational workshops for teachers. Her career also includes making short films and documentaries highlighting artists on the Toulouse scene, such as Sidilarsen, Les Gens Charles, Empreintes and many others.
Virginie Garandeau
Virginie Garandeau is a lecturer and state-qualified teacher of jazz and contemporary dance, and has been Professor of Choreographic Culture at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMD de Paris) since 2010. Since 1993, she has taught dance history in a number of public establishments and private centers. She also gives many conferences on choreographic culture, in conservatories or during general public events.
Most recently, she co-curated the exhibition Scènes de bal, bals en scène, organized by the National Dance Center, and co-authored the associated catalog-book. She is also a contributor to the Dictionary of Dance (Édition Larousse 1999 and 2008) and the Dictionary of Women Creators (Édition des femmes, 2013), covering the forty-century history of women of all countries who have enriched the world in artistic, literary, scientific and other fields.
Elisabeth Schwartz
Dancer, dance historian and teacher, graduate of the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York (1996), Elisabeth Schwartz works on Laban’s thought, both at a practical and theoretical level, in her teaching, in analytical writing of choreographic works, in her interpretation and transmission of the dances of Isadora Duncan. She is constantly questioning the modernity of contemporary dance. She has passed on Duncan’s repertoire to contemporary dancers such as Boris Charmatz and François Chaignaud. Since 2019, Elisabeth Schwartz has been performing Jérôme Bel’s Isadora Duncan in France.
Maxime Guillon-Roi-Sans-Sac
With a degree in Information and Communication, Maxime Guillon-Roi-Sans-Sac joined the choreographic research group at Tours University in 2007. He continued his training in contemporary dance at the Toulouse National Choreographic Development Center (CDCN de Toulouse) in the frame of Extensions program, at the Royaumont Abbey‘s Choreographic Research and Composition Program, and at the dance department of University Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree. In 2014, he took part in the reconstruction projects of Vaslav Nijinsky and Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Sacre #2, directed by Dominique Brun. He collaborated with Margot Dorléans on the piece Vertébrés, and also with Samuel Mathieu for La dynamique des émotions, a project based on Yves Klein and Pierre Soulage histories. He joined the Primitifs team, a production by Michel Schweizer, which questions the place of living beings and their commitment to the transformations they undergo.
Since 2017, he has been working with young audiences, notably with Bouture d’un sacre, a creation and transmission project for primary school classes; De tête en cape by choreographer Balkis Moutashar and Petit B, Marion Muzac’s project aimed at early childhood. In parallel with his work as a dance performer, Maxime is training in the practice of well-being massage at the Shen-ti school.
Raphaël Olive
Following dual professional training (live performance and management-law), Raphaël Olive embarked on a career as a performer at the age of 28, first in jazz dance then in contemporary dance. He has performed for 15 years in various shows and projects as a dance artist. In parallel, he takes on the management of a dance school, the artistic direction and choreography of the Intermédiaire company, as well as the role of assistant to choreographer Pedro Pauwels.
A state graduate in contemporary dance from the isdaT and holder of the Certificate of Aptitude (CA) from the Lyon Conservatory (CNSMD de Lyon), he works as a teacher and trainer in various public centers, like isdaT and Montauban conservatory. Listed as a qualified personality with the Ministry of Culture, he chairs and/or participates in the juries validating the obtaining of the Technical Aptitude Exam (EAT) and the State Diploma in dance (DE). He is regularly invited for end-of-cycle juries and CPES (Preparatory Classes for Higher Education) in conservatories.
Gwenaëlle Martinez
A native of Agen, France, Gwenaëlle Martinez trained in both classical and contemporary dance. As a dancer in a collective of dancers and musicians, she multiplied her creative and training experiences. Her desire to impart knowledge is becoming more and more significant. With a State Diploma (DE) in contemporary dance, she taught for over ten years in an associative environment, and has been teaching at the Montauban Conservatory since the creation of the dance department in 2005. She has initiated projects to enable the development of contemporary dance in the curriculum of choreographic studies in the conservatory and in the Montauban region in general. A cultural actor in the life and dynamic evolution of the conservatory, she is today coordinator of the dance department.
She pursues a reflective approach in teaching dance by following continuing education modules at isdaT or at the Aliénor center. She has also been a trainer as part of preparation for the Technical Aptitude Exam (EAT) since 2008. This training was created by the Montauban Conservatory in close collaboration with the isdaT. At the same time Gwenaëlle has been a trainer as part of the State Diploma (DE) in dance classes for children at isdaT. Her teaching focuses equally on considering individuals as well as their dance, showing interest in both their investigative process and the execution of the dance movement, thereby allowing the dancer to embrace an organic movement without being confined to a single technique.
Martine Truong Tan Trung
Dancer, educator and researcher, Martine Truong Tan Trung teaches dance trainers. She also specializes in dance pedagogy for young children, and in Functional Analysis of the Body in Dance Movement (AFCMD). For many years now, she has been passing on her knowledge as part of the State Dance Teacher Diploma (DE) training. Thanks to her in-depth research into movement, she works with a variety of audiences, whether dancers, musicians, visual artists, designers, professionals or amateurs. With them, she questions the “use of the body” in artistic gesture, encouraging everyone to explore, question and cultivate their imagination and singularity in the service of creation.
Her many encounters in the worlds of art and science provide opportunities to put her research into practice and develop creative processes. She also questions the pedagogy of art education, constantly seeking to enrich and rethink it. Martine Truong Tan Trung is a graduate of the Art’Enact Master 2 (training engineering, with honors), a state-certified dance teacher in jazz and contemporary dance. She is the recipient of two research grants from the National Dance Center. She is co-author of the book Time, Rhythm and Movement, tools for learning dance and music (Édition Delatour) and a collective work on AFCMD to be published.
