Biography
Like many young choreographers, they settled in Brussels. After their studies they were both supported by WP Zimmer in Antwerp and first collaborated in 2007 for the video installation/performance Dido. In 2008, they founded the structure Action Scénique together with performance artist Nada Gambier. During the next eight years, Claire and Etienne would continue to intensify their collaboration. Together with Alain Franco they created Mouvement pour quatuor (2012), a performance for eight dancers with live music by Quatuor MP4. Claire danced in several of Etienne’s choreographies, such as Skènè (2004), Tres Scripturae (2010) and Synopsis of a Battle (2013), and has most recently assisted him with Zeit-Bild (2015), Feu (2015) and The Diamond Sea (2016), while Etienne assisted Claire with the dramaturgy of a.o. The Farewell (2009), Vor deinem Thron (2010), Chant éloigné (2012), Primitive (2014) EVOL (2016), Flowers (we are) (2019), Duet for two string quartets (2022) and Fabula (2023)
In 2016 Claire Croizé and Etienne Guilloteau continue their close professional relationship under the name ECCE. In this new constellation, they work as two individual choreographers with their own artistic language, but from a shared philosophy and a shared expertise. Often, their work can be situated on the intersection between dance and music, especially live music, which plays a prominent role in their choreography. They have collaborated with several national and international music ensembles and venues (B’Rock, Oxalys, MP4, Zwerm, The Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg, oenm etc.). Etienne has, moreover, developed a close collaboration with pianist and musical director Alain Franco. With ECCE, Claire and Etienne continue to explore the relationship between (live) music and dance as house artists of Concertgebouw Brugge for the period 2017-2021.
ECCE stands for Etienne and Claire, Claire and Etienne. As artists, their work reflects themselves and their environment, but in their collaboration, they reflect and complement each other as well.
In residentie The Round
01.01.2025 – 01.01.2025
The Round is a re-creation of the performance Primitive, created and performed by a group of 6 Brussels children aged between 8 and 13. This performance embodies an explosion of vitality and untamed energy. Created in 2014, Claire Croizé’s creation was created in collaboration with dancers Youness Khoukhou, Radouan Mriziga, José-Paolo Dos Santos and set designer Jozef Wouters, who designed a circular platform for the piece. This design gives the creation a whole new dimension and testifies to a profound engagement with the urban reality of diversity in Brussels.
The Round emphasises the vitality and untamed energy of bodies in motion, intimately connected to each other and their environment. It calls for a return to the source – the breath, the rhythm of the bodies, the game – and it plays on the ambivalence of an energy that is both positive and potentially destructive.
The creation is not only about the physical and abstract dimensions of dance, but also about creating a group and installing a sense of community or solidarity. At the same time, Claire Croizé emphasises the individuality and personality of the children by encouraging them to draw inspiration from their cultural traditions and personal history. The Round can be performed both indoors and outdoors: in forests, on the banks of a canal, on the beach, behind a dune or in a park; but also in theatres, an old warehouse or a gymnasium.
