Dominique Martinoli

Special Dance Award 2019

Dominique Martinoli was born in Basel in 1968 and is now involved in contemporary dance outreach and networking in the Jura. She studied German and education at the University of Neuchâtel. In 2004 she completed a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Dance Science followed, in 2017, by a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Dance Mediation at the University of Bern. Since 2001 she has headed “Danse! – association jurassienne pour la danse contemporaine (AJDC)” in Delémont and coordinates “évidanse”, a mobile dance festival and seasonal programme in the Jura regions, in association with various organisers. évidanse’s programme routinely features Swiss dance companies including Cédric Gagneur’s Cie Synergie, a young group from the urban dance scene. In addition to the performances, Dominique Martinoli puts together an outreach programme that, since the seasonal programme began, has focused on young audiences and includes dance projects in schools. In 2011 she received the recognition award from the intercantonal committee on the performing arts CICAS of the cantons of Jura and Bern for her commitment to dance in the region.

The first “évidanse” festival was held in 2004 at the Café du Soleil in Saignelégier and the Centre Culturel Régional de Delémont (CCRD), with the Centre Culturel de la Prévôté (CCP) in Moutier, Centre Culturel du District du Porrentruy (CCDP), Centre de Culture et de Loisirs (CCL) in Saint-Imier and Le Royal in Tavannes joining them the following year. The joint organisers banded together in 2006 to form the Association Interjurassienne des Centres Culturels (AICC). Since 2006 évidanse has been regularly involved in the Steps dance festival sponsored by Migros Culture Percentage and, since 2008, the dance festival organised by the Swiss dance network reso. The Biel-based event organisers Nebia and Viadanse – Centre Chorégraphique National de Bourgogne Franche-Comté in Belfort, France also now work with évidanse. In 2014 the festival programme was expanded to include a seasonal programme with activities such as the “Camp Danse” for a young audience, and the “Parcours Danse Delémont”, produced by Basel-based Compagnie MIR with 200 school students for the inauguration of the “Delémont, marrée basse” public park. In 2018 Dominique Martinoli teamed up with Viadanse and the AICC to launch the EU-funded project TDC – Territoires Dansés en Commun, designed to give young people access to contemporary culture and dance in particular.

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Philippe Olza, jury member:

“The founder and director of évidanse, an innovative project to promote dance throughout the canton of Jura and the Jura region of Bern, Dominique Martinoli is a prime example of human ecology. For more than 15 years now, she’s been bringing together a range of partners to produce performances and interventions for audiences of every kind. Self-willed yet unobtrusive, she arranges participatory awareness-raising activities that encourage professionals and laypeople to come together in dance. An outstanding mediator, Dominique Martinoli has created an entire dance network in her own Jura region and also advanced cooperation between France and Switzerland.”