I’ve been in New York for almost eight years now and am always amazed by the extremes of our seasons, especially since I grew up in the south of France under the burning sun. I like contrast, and our seasons add such a contrast to our lives — when the weather changes, so does everything else, from food to fashion. Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is very inspiring, and I had originally choreographed “Spring” and “Winter” with students from the Martha Graham School back in 1999. At the time the show was fairly successful, but I was never really satisfied with the results. I always wanted to re-do both of these pieces, but on a much bigger scale. Since 2004 is the fourth season of the Saba Dance Theater, I thought “what better time to present The Four Seasons?”

Only “Winter” is set to Vivaldi’s music. For “Spring,” I collaborated with an American contemporary composer, Malina Rauschenfels. She combined both of our voices with instruments that she plays herself — the music is filtered through computers and provides an interesting contrast to Vivaldi. For “Autumn” and “Summer” I collaborated with a French group called Ninetyeleven. The dancers’ voices become part of the “music” and since it’s live performance, it promises some unique variations. I also set some of the work to Rammstein, a German Punk/Alternative group, to represent the aggression of the sun on our skin during summer.

I started my company only two months after September 11th — a very sad, intense period. To honor the victims, we called the first season “Dancing to Celebrate Life.” At the time, I was mostly known only as a Martha Graham dancer with the Pearl Lang Dance Theater, but I had already choreographed over 25 pieces by then. I found it difficult to make audiences understand that I was not one of those typical “Grahamesque” choreographers that you usually see. For one thing, there is no body “type” requirement to dance with us. Also, we tend to keep the same members from year to year. I am the oldest member at 31 and their mentor, but there are no stars in this company. I treat everyone equally and they are all encouraged to express their thoughts and opinions.

In the second season, we presented N.O.N.S.E.N.S.E — about a girl talking to her shrink and resolving her problems — and last season was Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty had been on my mind for over four years, and I had so many notes that when I started finally working on it, it was such a relief! For the musical score, I collaborated with Ninetyeleven, and even sang that Elvis song “I can’t help falling in love with you” which I remixed with Ninetyeleven and Tchaikovsky. In The Four Seasons, we don’t act as much, but that leaves more room for dancing. Probably next season, we’ll go back to more acting and less dancing — that’s why we call it Dance Theater — it’s as much a Theater company as a dance company.

I was raised in a very small town in South of France and had a terrible family life. My only escape as a child was acting — my friends and I would spend hours in the park, pretending to be someone else. I later studied acting and dance at the Nice Opera, Theater de Nice, and ERAC in Cannes, but except a few Balanchine ballets, the repertoire was very French, very classical. After being scouted by the Martha Graham company in France in 1996, I came to the U.S. I also danced with the Rosella Hightower Dance Company in France and was the assistant rehearsal director for Pearl Lang in New York for 5 years. Pearl was quite old at the time and unable to demonstrate moves to the dancers, so she used me as her instrument. Not only did I learn technique and choreography, but also the day-to-day details of what not to do when I finally got my own company.

Naturally, my point of view has changed a lot since I left France. I like to think I put the best of both countries into my art. The most important thing is to create a visual that respects the vision of the choreographer, respects the body of the dancers, and respects the audience. It’s a continuing struggle for me to bring to life what I see in my mind. The mind can do so many things that a body cannot, and it can be extremely difficult to bring these movements to life in the three-dimensional world.

Artists like Picasso, Dali, O’Keefe, Madonna, Jean Paul Gaultier and Pierre & Gilles inspire me. When I hear music, I can often visualize the choreography which drives me into the studio to work on the movements. I also love watching movies. The stupidities of our world and our rulers give me the need to entertain people. With all the horrors of our world, it is my duty as an artist to create something beautiful so that we can forget our troubles for a couple of hours.

I have been compared to Cher because we are both eccentric on stage and adore extravagant costumes.

I am gay and a chocoholic! In addition to being a choreographer, dancer, and set designer, I also design and sew all the costumes. I taught myself to use a sawing machine and have been making the costumes for the company ever since.

I would like to establish the “Saba Dance Studios” where we could develop new shows and collaborate with other young artists such as choreographers, painters, set designers, actors, musicians and photographers. One of the big problems facing companies like mine is funding. We are still trying to get not-for-profit status so we can apply for grants and financial assistance. Without it, it’s virtually impossible for a young, independent dance troupe to succeed. While I love to see my ideas come to life in the form of that beautiful instrument — the dancer’s body — the funding issue constantly worries me. I look forward to the day when I can pay the artists involved in the shows. Right now, all 25 dancers season are not getting paid — we do it for the well-being of the company and the love of dance.

We love it when audiences walk out with a smile, that’s the most rewarding thing for us. We see our shows as a celebration of life through dance — you can laugh, cry, hold your breath, feel love, everything. The choreography includes everything from ballet to modern, tango to jazz — it’s very eclectic. We also act, and there’s dialogue too, and the fact that I have music specially composed for our productions helps make the world premieres of the works so exciting. With such a large company this year, it’s more important than ever to keep the group bound together with our shared passion for dance, being on stage, and life. As time goes by, I find that more and more with my dance company, I have no limits. There is no such thing as “no, we can’t do that.” Our goal is to show the audience something they don’t see every day, something special. Because of the audience you get the magic of stage performances, that unique feeling of discovering something new. I want them to go home feeling their life is better for a few days, or even just a few hours.