© Julien Reyes
MICHÈLE MURRAY is a choreographer and artistic director of dance company PLAY / Michèle Murray.
The body as starting point and support for each project, instant composition within strict choreographic grids, and research on the link between abstract and figurative forms are the focus of her artistic work.
A Franco-American national, she first trained in ballet in Düsseldorf, Germany, then in New York with Merce Cunningham, later with different choreographers in Paris before collaborating in various choreographic projects as a performer, notably with “l’art not least” in Berlin, Didier Théron in Montpellier and Bernardo Montet at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Tours. From 2000 onwards, she develops her personal work within the Michèle Murray Company, which becomes Murray / Brosch Productions in 2008, in artistic collaboration with Maya Brosch. She has created numerous works which have toured extensively in Europe.
In 2012, wishing to concentrate on projects dedicated primarily to dance and choreography, she founds PLAY / Michèle Murray, of which she is artistic director and choreographer, while researching in close collaboration with artist coworkers.
Within this framework, she creates the danceworks ATLAS / STUDIES, a “choreographic atlas” composed of ten short pieces (2018), WILDER SHORES, a choreography for six dancers with sound composer Gerome Nox on stage (2020), and EMPIRE OF FLORA, a choreography for four male dancers with DJ Lolita on stage (2022). These different works were created during various editions of the international Montpellier Danse festival. All pieces are currently touring in France and Europe.
In 2021 and 2022, as part of the Dance in Residence Brandenburg program and in response to a proposal from the Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst in Cottbus, Germany, Michèle Murray creates COLLISIONS AND COMBUSTIONS – A CHOREOGRAPHIC COLLECTION FOR THE MUSEUM, a durational project non-limited in time. Following the success of this work, the proposal for the BLMK is renewed and expanded with ten performers in 2022. To date, the project exists as two different formats: DUOS, an exhibition format, and GARDEN, a performance format. The project marks the beginning of an ongoing research on choreography in museum spaces, which Michèle Murray is currently pursuing in various museums in France and Germany.
In 2023, she creates DANCEFLOOR, a commissioned work for the 24 dancers of the Ballet de Lorraine – CCN Nancy. This piece is developed into an extended evening-length version with the same 24 dancers of the Ballet de Lorraine for the 2024 edition of the Montpellier Danse Festival.
In 2024, she also creates TIME, a choreography for seven dancers of her own company PLAY, which premiered at the “Festival Tours d’Horizons 2024” organized by the Centre Chorégraphique National de Tours, France.
Michèle Murray is currently preparing BURNING THE DAYS, a choreographic project for three dancers of her company, which will premiere at the festival Tours d’Horizons – CCn Tours in June 2026.
From 2022 to 2024, Michèle Murray is Associated Artist at the Pôle de Développement Chorégraphique Bernard Glandier, Montpellier.
From 2024 to 2026, Michèle Murray is Associated Artist with the Centre Chorégraphique National de Tours as well as with the Théâtre La Cigalière, scène conventionnée, Serignan (2022 – 2025).