MADE in France

MADE in France, a Washington University Performing Arts Department summer study abroad program, engages students in a learning process that integrates diverse aspects of movement arts. MADE in France offers a hands-on historical survey of European art, dance and design. The program culminates in a performance of original student works attended by local artists and residents of the Burgundy region.

MADE in France is developed to stimulate collaborative engagement between young choreographers, designers (costume/scenic/sound), actors, experimental musicians and visual artists wishing to learn more about multi-disciplinary performance involving choreography.

Our theme for 2010 is the encounter between Sound and Movement. The program simulates the trajectory of a professional dance-theater ensemble’s creative process, beginning with dramaturgical research in Paris and moving through conception to écriture, construction and performance in Mélisey. From start to finish, students experience immersion in the professional parcours of a French performance company.

This year’s theme, Sound and Movement, will allow our work to correspond with a variety of arts events planned for summer 2010 in Bourgogne. The local arts group Atomes Crochus has defined a summer cultural program of Art Sonore to explore the relationship between sound and architecture, sound and nature, sound and visual design, and the voice and movement in performance.

The MADE in France voyage d’initiation goes well beyond training in performance history and creative process, offering students an occasion to live and study abroad in both urban and rural settings, to train with professional European artists, to develop skills of collaboration with their peers, and to hone their French language skills.