Interview with Aurélie Dupont on the occasion of her solo at GRAHAM 100 (Martha Graham Dance Company)

Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund: This project marks your return to the stage for the centenary of the Martha Graham Dance Company. How did this collaboration come about?

Aurélie Dupont: “My relationship with the Martha Graham Dance Company is long-standing. I discovered the Graham technique around age 14 or 15: it was a true physical shock, almost instinctive, even though I couldn’t explain it at the time.

Later, when I retired from performing in 2015, I went to work in New York with the company to continue exploring where I had left off. I learned pieces, danced with them, and these exchanges strengthened an already strong artistic and personal bond.

When I became director of dance at the Paris Opera, it was actually the first foreign company I invited. They accepted… on the condition that I dance with them on the Opéra Garnier stage, which I did with immense pleasure.

This faithful friendship continues. They wrote to me to propose participating in the centenary, and I accepted immediately.”

Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund: You perform a solo created by Virginie Mecène. Can you tell us about this work?

Aurélie Dupont: “Virginie Mecène is a French dancer who has spent her entire career with the Graham Company. She is a true Graham dancer. We had previously worked together on Ecstasy, which I danced in New York and later at the Opéra Garnier.

For this project, I wanted to reconnect with her world and create a new solo: Désir. Virginie has this unique approach of delving into the company’s archives. She enjoys exploring photographs of Martha Graham for which no video exists. From a single image, she imagines a movement, a breath, an intention.

She found a photograph from 1926, from Martha Graham’s first performance, in which Graham performed a solo titled Désir. Starting from this image—a long, slightly transparent dress and a precise pose—Virginie composed a language and movement inspired by it. We kept the essence, particularly the dress, but everything else is a creation of today.”

Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund: How does Martha Graham’s universe resonate with your own vision of dance?

Aurélie Dupont: “Martha Graham is the global reference for contemporary dance: she laid its foundations. Contemporary dance was born in Germany and the United States in the 1930s, and only arrived in France in the 1970s. This shows how visionary and foundational Graham was.

Her technique is based on two principles: contraction and release. Contraction is an almost visceral reaction, like a small hit in the belly button that gathers the center, moves the pelvis, sometimes the shoulders. Release is the breath, the letting go that gives space to the body.

What struck me about this technique is its deeply personal nature. Sensation precedes form. This is very different from classical dance, my original language, where one seeks first the perfect line, the exact position. In Graham, there is no “perfect contraction”: it is only correct if sincerely felt.

Working in the lower abdomen, in torsion, in the intimate energy of the body spoke to me immediately. It is a technique of great physical truth, almost instinctive. And that is what I love about it.”

Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund: After your career at the Paris Opera, what does returning to an international tour mean to you?

Aurélie Dupont: “I wouldn’t say this return is ‘important.’ It is simply precious. I did not expect it at all. After five or six years off stage, this invitation feels like a last opportunity, a final taste of performing.

I love them so much that I could not say no. Then, I trained for six months to be ready, regain my sensations, and respect what my body can still do.

I also believe it can encourage other dancers: there is no age to dance, as long as it is done with sincerity and humility. I accepted because it is a creation tailored to my maturity and my body today. It’s like rediscovering a favorite dish, with a new flavor.”

Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund: What inspires you for this solo?

Aurélie Dupont: “Music, first of all. It is a piano composition by Stav Danker. I love its minimalist quality, almost like drops of water: simple, unpretentious. Music is my words when I dance.

The simplicity of the setup also inspires me: I am alone, without a set, in a long, slightly transparent dress. Nothing shields, nothing distracts. It is an exercise in total honesty.

In my dance, I do not seek external influences. I simply try to be sincere, to let emotion flow through me, without bluff, without artifice.”

Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund: The Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund supports this project. What does this partnership mean to you?

Aurélie Dupont: “It is very meaningful. Francis Kurkdjian is an artist, a deeply sensitive man, passionate about art and dance. That he wants to highlight this project touches me greatly.

Being supported by an artist is very different from being supported by a patron outside the creative world. There is a kind of invisible exchange: I offer an artistic gesture that may, perhaps, inspire him in return. Art works in this way, through resonance.

Since this solo is very pared-down, almost bare, I even thought we could imagine an olfactory experience around the piece. But above all, his presence is essential: without him, the project could not have come to life.”

Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund: What do you wish the audience to feel when watching you?

Aurélie Dupont: “I don’t really ask myself that question. I have never danced thinking, ‘Tonight, I want the audience to feel this.’

The audience is made up of very different people, with varying sensitivities, moods, and stories. Some love dance, some do not; some are attentive, some less so.

What I hope, simply, is that my emotion and sincerity are visible. When I dance, I try to be completely present, as if dancing alone at home, with no one watching.

I would like this solo to be a moment of calm and serenity for those who watch it.”