Patrice Besombes

PATRICE BESOMBES studied drama in Tours, France. As Technical Director of the Maison de la Danse de Lyon, the self-taught Patrice developed his approach through the work he did with the emerging generation of French choreographers of the early 1980s, including Catherine Diverres, Dominique Boivin, and Kitsou Dubois. He designed the lighting for Benjamin Millepied's On the Other Side for the NYC Ballet, as well as Triad and Amoveo for the Paris Opera. He worked with the American choreographer Carolyn Carlson, whose Signes is still in the repertory of the Ballet National de Paris. Besombes participated in the International Dance Festival in Montpellier and the Vienna Jazz Festival, joining Philippe Decoufle's company DCA in 1993, first as stage manager on Petites pieces montees and Decodex. He slowly gravitated toward lighting with such DCA productions as Denise, the ceremonies of the 50th Cannes International Film Festival, Marguerite, Shazam!, Triton, Solo, IRIS, Sombreros, and Octopus.