A conservatory devoted to the full range of dance — from the classical rigour of ballet to the boundless territory of contemporary choreography.
We believe technique is not a cage — it is a vocabulary. The greater the vocabulary, the more precisely you can speak. We train technical excellence not as an end but as the beginning of artistic freedom.
Dance is not merely physical. A dancer who does not understand music, space, and dramatic intention is a craftsperson without imagination. Our curriculum integrates music theory, Laban movement analysis, and performance psychology.
Every dancer at Mouvement is asked to choreograph. Not because every dancer will become a choreographer, but because understanding how movement is constructed changes how you perform it. Interpretation is deepened by creation.
The foundation of all our training. Royal Academy syllabus with contemporary extensions. Professional-track students audition for our resident company.
Release technique, Limon, Forsythe vocabulary, and somatic methods. For dancers who want to expand beyond the classical tradition.
Studio-based composition course for experienced dancers who wish to develop a choreographic voice. Group rehearsal time and a public showing included.
For dancers who want to deepen their relationship with music. Score reading, rhythmic analysis, and collaborative projects with the Mouvement chamber ensemble.
Every member of the Mouvement faculty has performed professionally at the highest level. We do not hire teachers who have only taught. The classroom must echo with real experience — of auditions, of opening nights, of the vulnerability of performance.
Before any style is taught, the instrument must be prepared. The first weeks focus on proprioception, muscular alignment, injury prevention, and Pilates-based core conditioning. We repair before we build.
Daily technique classes in your chosen discipline, five mornings per week. Classes run at three levels simultaneously — all students are assessed and placed appropriately regardless of their program year.
Learning existing choreographic works from the canon — Forsythe, Béjart, Pina Bausch — teaches students to inhabit movement that is not their own. This is the training of a professional interpreter.
Each semester includes a research module: improvisation scores, site-specific projects, collaborative work with the music and visual arts programs of partner institutions in Lyon.
The annual Mouvement Platform is attended by directors from leading European companies. Final-year students perform new works. Several students each year receive company contracts before graduation.
Marguerite Colombe opens a small dance studio in Lyon's Croix-Rousse district, initially offering only classical ballet. The waiting list grows within three months.
The first contemporary programme launches under choreographer Andrei Szabo. The juxtaposition of classical and contemporary training becomes the conservatory's defining character.
New premises on Quai Saint-Antoine open, with four purpose-built studios, sprung floors, and a 120-seat black-box theatre used for regular public showings.
The Mouvement Platform established as an annual industry event. Within two years it is recognised as one of the most important graduate showcases in European dance.