Six candidates were in the running to lead the house of dance in Lyon.
The jury unanimously selected the Portuguese choreographer Tiago Guedes.
He will succeed this summer Dominique Hervieu, appointed cultural director of the Paris 2024 Olympics. He will take up his duties first in the form of a half-time job from July 1 and full-time from September 1.
Aged 51, Tiago Guedes directs the municipal theater of Porto where he notably created the “Dias da dança” festival.
His appointment comes as the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional council comes, under the impetus of its president LR Laurent Wauquiez, to suddenly reduce its subsidies for Lyon culture.
For the Maison de la Danse, the cut represents 47% of regional funding (-180,000 euros) out of an annual budget of around 6.5 million euros.
Less regional subsidies
“It is not trivial because everything is already committed for the next season, we are presented with a fait accompli” when it comes to operating subsidies included in a multi-annual framework, lamented the interim director. Pierre Martinez contacted by AFP.
For him, "it's worrying because we don't know what the future will hold", especially for the next Dance Biennial, scheduled for 2023, while the Contemporary Art Biennial scheduled alternately has just see its regional subsidy melt by a third (-253,000 euros) three months before its opening.
The period is all the more sensitive as the 2021/2022 season was affected by the effects of the Covid-19 health crisis, with a drop in its subscriptions of around -30%, in line with the national trend and a drop in attendance of 13% (with 106,000 spectators) according to the annual report.
Culture
Lyon: "I have a pinch in my heart to leave", says Dominique Hervieu, next cultural director of the Paris 2024 Olympics
Lyons
Lyon: "Laurent Wauquiez does not want a culture that teaches you to think", criticizes the city after the announcement of the reduction in subsidies
Culture
Dance
Lyons
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes