Portuguese Thiago Guedes replaces Dominique Hervio at Maison de la Danse de Lyon

Nice atmosphere to take over the management of one of the leading cultural institutions in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region… while the CEO of the very right-wing regional president Laurent Vauquiez prepares to cut subsidies with a mower. One of the most emblematic and prestigious cultural venues on its territory, we learned on Thursday of the appointment of another beloved Thiago at the helm of an essential cultural structure of live entertainment. After the appointment of the Portuguese Thiago Rodrigues – who ran the National Theater in Lisbon – at the helm of the Avignon Festival as successor to Olivier Baye, his highly respected compatriot Thiago Guedes – the choreographer who until then had directed the Municipal Theater in Porto and the Dias da Dança Festival, came in as one of the partners. Key figures for the France-Portugal crossover season – at the helm of the Maison de la Danse and the Lyon Dance Biennale, succeeding Dominique Hervio, who will leave to manage the cultural program for the 2024 Olympics.

The Maison de la Danse is not the structure most affected by Wauquiez's unprecedented attack on the flagships of its area – the title goes to Villa Gillet which sees its future seriously threatened, after losing a third of its support – but still. As it prepares to open new equipment (dance workshops, a creative space for artists and a space for amateur practice), the structure could see its regional support reduced from €380,000 in 2021 to €200,000 in 2022.

Common identity

Welcome, So, Thiago Guedes. A new president whose name we were impatiently awaiting: the application period has been extended, as is the case recently at the helm of performing arts institutions… His project “ON(L)Y Danse – A shared future of dance in Lyon » was unanimously praised by the composed jury Representatives of the city of Lyon, the capital, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, the Ministry of Culture and the presidents of the Maison de la danse and the Lyon Biennale. It is proposed to give the three entities the Maison de la danse, the Biennale de Lyon and the Ateliers de la danse a common identity and, among other things, to emphasize a territorial anchor. Strong by strengthening the presence of artists in Lyon. The authorities were undoubtedly reassured by his experience as a multi-tasking manager capable of managing a venue, a festival, and a place of creativity (his structure in Porto was ultimately similar in nature to that of Lyon). A very attractive situation for the micro-dance world, if we are to believe the praises, emojis of flowers and emojis of applause, of many choreographers and directors of institutions on social networks, who agreed to praise the commitment of this former collaborator Xavier Le Roy or Boris Charmatz, who thus came from Labor-intensive dance fringe.

Important chair

His appointment is also unexpected, for those who took it for granted that they would see a local kid who became an international hip-hop star (the much-publicized Mourad Marzouki, leaving the National Center of Dance in Créteil) sitting in this important chair. Too quickly on occupied territory. What challenges does this new manager face? In addition to juggling a reduced budget with the opening of a new venue, it is his responsibility to renew the point of view on contemporary creativity where Dominique Hervieu seems to have insisted more, and successfully, on the social dimension of this practice – making it even more important. The International Biennale is a tool for strong communication with a wide range of residents and neighborhoods in the city. The hyperactive Iron Lady has six-folded the budget for art education at the Maison de la Danse, developing digital tools and atmospheric educational articles art art In which she appeared as herself. Meanwhile, the first knives of international choreographic creativity struggled a bit to announce themselves in the Maison de la Danse season. Maybe it was just that there was nothing? Thiago Guedes, 44, maybe he has something in his pocket that we didn't know about? He will assume his duties part-time from July 1, 2022 and full-time from September 1, 2022.