Formed in the years 90 at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) in classical and contemporary dance then in writing and analysis of movement (Laban kinetography), Raphaël Cottin is as interested in choreographic creation as in the study of movement. After dancing for Daniel Dobbels during 9 years, but also for Stéphanie Aubin, Christine Gérard and Odile Duboc, today he is a performer at the National Choreographic Center of Tours with Thomas Lebrun, with whom he has collaborated since 2008, as a dancer but also as an assistant (particularly for the productions ofFeasts of Hebea by Jean-Philippe Rameau at the Academy of the Paris National Opera orPearl fishermen by Georges Bizet at the Opéra national du Capitole in Toulouse).
He is also an expert member of the Laban International Council of Cinematography (ICCL) and director of his company La Poétique des Signes, wearing creations where the analysis of movement and Labanian disciplines hold a special place. His creations, among whichParallels with star dancer Jean Guizerix, Live buffet with the director-scenographer tandem Pierre Meunier and Marguerite Bordat, It's a legend (play for young audiences) orIn Praise of Possibilities (quartet created in December 2024) are broadcast in particular at the Festival in Avignon, at the Cannes dance festival, at the Winter Facts festival in Paris, on several national stages in France and in numerous festivals in Europe (Ireland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Since he started, he likes collaborations with live music and original compositions. He thus performed with the lyrical artists Patricia Petibon, Robert Expert, Guilhem Worms, the pianists Susan Manoff, Catherine Daiprés or Camille Delaforge, cellist Alexis Descharmes, violinist Hélène Schmitt, the flautist Cédric Jullion, the composers David-François Moreau, Yann Ollivo or Maxime Vavasseur.
From 2008, he collaborates with the director Jean Lacornerie in musical theater productions where the staging and choreography are constantly interconnected (Ladies of the Hall d’Offenbach, Romeo and Juliet by Blacher, The Bat by Strauss, the Threepenny Opera de Breicht/Weill, musicalsBells are ringing, The Pajama Game, Woman of the Year, orThe Cliff of Tomorrow, first opera by Jean-Marie Machado created in November 2024).
Attend these productions in different places dedicated to music (Paris Operas, Lyon, Rennes, Angers-Nantes, Toulon, Avignon, the Key of Songs, the Châtelet theaters, of La Croix-Rousse or La Renaissance) maintained his knowledge and love of the musical world in general and singing in particular. In this same spirit, he taught opera students at the Pôle Supérieure de Musique de Bourgogne and at the Studio de l’Opéra de Lyon under the leadership of Jean-Paul Fouchécourt and at the CNSMDP in Jean Lacornerie’s stage expression class.
photo ©️ Frédéric Iovino