Rafaële Giovanola (Choreography, direction), Swiss, born in Baltimore, USA. Studied ballet at Marika Besobrasova in Monte Carlo. After a first engagement as a soloist in Turin, Rafaële Giovanola was engaged by Egon Madsen for the Frankfurt Ballet. She danced the repertoire and co-operated with several choreographers like Jiri Kylian, Uwe Scholz and William Forsythe, the Frankfurt Ballet choreographer. Under his direction she stayed with the Frankfurt Ballet for eight years, being involved in all productions of this new groundbreaking era. Followed a long collaboration as a soloist with the Choreographic Theatre from Pavel Mikuláštik’s in Freiburg and in Bonn. Rafaële Giovanola has been teaching for different state Compagnies and institutions. In collaboration with partners like Goethe-Institut and Pro-Helvetia she teaches workshops and Labs around the world. She wons national and international awards for her choreographic works such as in 2010 the sponsorship grant from the canton of Valais, in 2021 the cultural award of the city of Monthey and in 2022 the Deutsche Theaterpreis DER FAUST for her choreography “Sphynx” with tanzmainz. For her work in the field of art education Rafaële was awarded numerous prizes and was invited with her Junior Company in 2016, 19 and 23 to the “Tanztreffen der Jugend” Berliner Festspiele.
The performance art collective CocoonDance was founded in 2000 by choreographer Rafaële Giovanola. Since then, the company has produced around fifty productions, which have toured on five continents, won numerous awards and been invited to showcase festivals in Germany and Switzerland, such as the Dance Platform Germany, STEPS Switzerland, etc. With its glossary work and MoveApp, CocoonDance is developing a tool that has been crucial for their pieces as well mediation practice. Researching outside theatres with various movement experts and non-academically trained bodies, the company explores techniques often alien to dance, leading the group to a greater understanding of body and movement, to the creation imaginative creatures with their own astonishing vocabulary of movement.
