The aim of this workshop is to share and collectively experiment with some elements of the Performer Les Savoirs’ toolkit for incorporating and embodying knowledge on stage, while striving to recreate thought experiments in the here and now of live performance. Using a series of exercises and games developed with the Performer Les Savoirs program over the last 7 years, we will practice articulating theoretical, aesthetic, and dramaturgical questions. We will explore different research protocols for/by/with performance creation (dance, theatre) and creative forms of research, notably through the exploration of theoretical and non-dramatic documents.

"Whether it's performance-based lectures, field research, or documentary forms, theatre and performance today show a predilection for research-led practices. But what does it mean to undertake a research process on stage, in a studio, or in a classroom when you are an artist, a researcher, or... a little bit of both?" 
Marion Boudier & Chloé Déchery
Artistes-chercheur·es, chercheur·es-artistes, Performer les savoirs, les presses du réel, collection ArTeC, 2022.

Image: Courtesy Chloé Déchery

Chloé Déchery – Performer, writer, and lecturer in theatre and performance studies (Université Paris 8 Saint-Denis). Her work explores language, memory, archives, self-narration, and alliances between humans and non-humans, using performative and choreographic devices. Among her works: Créer sous d'autres noms que le sien (2025), Bardane et moi (2022), On The Horizon (2017).

Marion Boudier – Dramaturg and lecturer in Performing Arts (Université d’Amiens). She develops prospective and documentary dramaturgy to support contemporary writing. She collaborates with Joël Pommerat, Guillermo Pisani, and numerous multidisciplinary artists.

Since 2018, Déchery and Boudier have co-directed Performer Les Savoirs, a research programme and curatorial platform that promotes performance studies and new forms of artistic research in France and beyond.