Choreographer Galen Hooks on working with top music stars and the power of positive dance

Once star dancer and choreographer at the New York City Ballet, he broadened his fame when he choreographed and had a role in the 2010 film "Black Swan" and then married his co-star Natalie Portman.

A choreographer whose work reflects the world – gay and trans rights, Black Lives Matter and gender equality – Galen Hooks has been giving virtual classes during the health crisis. You might know her for her work with more than 60 stars of the music world such as Janet Jackson, Justin Bieber, Usher, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus. Hooks speaks to Eve Jackson about her 20-year career, going on tour with Snoop Dog while studying for her law degree and the key role of dance in the Black Lives Matter movement.

In her hands, dance is an act of activism. Lia Rodrigues has been using movement for more than 40 years to break down barriers, put art within everyone's reach and argue – lyrically and persuasively – for more inclusion and diversity. The choreographer and dancer is a special guest at Paris's Festival d'Automne, where she's staging "Encantado", a hypnotic journey into a world of spiritualism and movement.

As the Paris Opera introduces his contemporary pieces “In Your Rooms” and “Uprising” to its repertoire, Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter tells us about his collaboration with the prestigious institution and how “they went to great lengths” to accommodate his experimental work. With Shechter’s recent work “Contemporary Dance” on stage at La Villette in Paris, he talks about how music and movement can supplant a cerebral conception of art and why he likes to “play the bear” when it comes to expectations. of the public.

From "Giselle" to "Swan Lake" and "The Rite of Spring", South Africa's Dada Masilo deconstructs classic ballets to tell a new story, far from the stereotypical damsel in distress but that of modern-day people who suffer modern-day issues such as homophobia, gender inequality and racism.