Born in Paris in 1978, François Chat lives and works in Paris and Venice. He trained as a juggler under the master Italo Médini at Annie Fratellini’s National Circus School in Paris, and began performing in their shows from the age of 10. He then went on to develop his own pathway, experimenting in contemporary juggling incorporating dance and gestural theater. With Philippe Minella (director and choreographer) he created his first dance-juggling performances, which included the production Clip-Clop in 1993. He performed Clip-Clop for the1995 “Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain” at the Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione in Paris, as well as at numerous contemporary dance events. In 1996 he created a new production entitled l’Oeuf du Vent ( The Wind’s Egg), an hour-long solo which he has performed in Europe, India, Pakistan and Japan. Performing in the productions of others as well, François Chat has played under the directors and choreographers Yannis Kokkos, Pierre Pierre Doussaint, Jean-François Duroure... In 1995 he met Bob Wilson for whom he played the role of young Oedipus in Silent-prologue, Wilson’s prologue to Oedipus-Rex (Théatre du Châtelet, Paris 1996). Wilson later created Wings on Rock for Chat (the piece is entirely performed by Chat and Marianna Kavalieratos, with music by Pascal Comelade and costumes designed by Kenzo). The world première was at the 1998 Festival de St. Denis. For the 1999 Festival de St. Denis, François Chat created the duo Rotation in collaboration with electro-acoustic hurdy gurdy player Valentin Clastrier. With Marc Vella and his travelling piano, Chat created Pièce jonglée pour piano (Juggled Piece for Piano), 2001. The Théatre du Châtelet commissioned Chat to create SEtaccio in collaboration with the composer Fred Frith and his musicians. This production was presented at Châtelet in November 2002. He created Le Bois de pins (The Pine Wood), a wordless solo based on the writings of Francis Ponge, commissioned and co-produced by Equinoxe, Scène Nationale de Châteauroux, and which was presented there in December 2002. Michel Petrucciani provided the musical accompaniment for François Chat’s 1996 solo performance, and Chat has continued to work on collaborative projects with musicians ever since. He regularly gives workshops (for theaters and schools including the Ménagerie de Verre and the Ecole Nationale du Cirque Fratellini in Paris, and the CTR in Venice) as well as lecturing (Académie Experimentale des Théatres, School of Architecture of Palermo, Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris,...) Having been invited to use their facilities by Sonia Biacchi, director of CTR (Centro Teatrale de Ricerca) located in Venice, François Chat has prepared his productions of recent years there. He has now been appointed associate and artistic counsellor to Biacchi. Biografia in italiano