Biography
Dominique Bagouet began training in classical dance in Cannes, in the school of Rosella Hightower, and obtained his first engagements at the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève directed by Alfonso Cata, where he danced the Balanchine repertoire. After a period as a dancer with Félix Blaska, then with Maurice Béjart in Brussels, Bagouet discovered the teaching of Carolyn Carlson at the Paris Opera. It was there that Bogouet joined Chandre, a group of former Mudra dancers. He also learned of another dancer, Peter Goss's, teachings while at the Paris Opera.
In 1974, he left for the United States where he acquired the techniques of Martha Graham and José Limón before tackling postmodern dance with Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown and Lar Lubovitch, among others.
Dominique returned to France in 1976, presenting his first choreography, Chansons de nuit(Songs of the Night), at the Bagnolet International Choreographic Competition. For his performance, Dominique won first prize for his choreography. After winning the Bagnolet competition, Demoniqiue founded his own dance company, named the Dominique Bagouet company, and moved to Montpellier. It was there that he became the director of the first regional choreographic centers, later renamed National Center for Choreography in 1984.
Dominique Bagouet died of AIDS in 1992, just as he was about to begin rehearsels for Noces d'or(Golden Wedding), in honor of his parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Because of his passing, the piece was relegated back to the project stage. Thirteen years later, in 2006, Marie-Hélène Rebois creates a documentary film as of portrait of Dominique and what he envisioned for his ultimate work, bringing the piece to life as Dominique was unable to.
The story of a posthumous performance of his play Jours étranges opens the tribute play Les Idoles by Christophe Honoré.
Dominique Bagouet is buried in the Bardines cemetery in Angoulême.
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Violette Verdy was a French ballerina, choreographer, teacher, and writer who worked as a dance company director with the Paris Opera Ballet in France and the Boston Ballet in the United States. From 1958 to 1977 she was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet where she performed in the world premieres of several works created specifically for her by choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She was Distinguished Professor of Music (Ballet) at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, in Bloomington, and the recipient of two medals from the French government.
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