About

Company

The Fabien Prioville Dance Company (FPDC) was founded in 2010 by choreographer Fabien Prioville and cultural manager Alexandra Schmidt. Since then, the company has created at least one new production each year, with most premieres taking place at tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf. FPDC’s works have toured successfully across the globe. A key milestone was the solo Jailbreak Mind (2009), co-produced by tanzhaus nrw and Trafó Budapest, which was selected for the German Dance Platform (Tanzplattform Deutschland) in Nuremberg.

FPDC explores a wide range of themes and formats, combining contemporary dance with new technologies and emotional storytelling. Productions like Time for Us (2014), created with Azusa Seyama Prioville, and Power Moves (2019), featuring five street dancers, highlight the diversity of the company’s creative approach. Additionally, works like Experiment on Chatting Bodies (2012), The Smartphone Project (2013), and the VR installation Rendez-Vous brought in more digital and interactive elements.

Collaborations with renowned festivals and institutions such as the Lyon Dance Biennale, Festival Tokyo, Open Look St. Petersburg, Holland Dance Festival and Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch have allowed FPDC to push artistic boundaries. These partnerships have resulted in innovative projects like VR dance films tailored for festival audiences and venues.

Since 2020, FPDC has been receiving the “Spitzenförderung des Landes NRW”, further strengthening its artistic and technological exploration. In recent years, the company has worked closely with the MIREVI Institute of Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. Together, they have developed cutting-edge productions like the mixed-media piece 12Fifty Mb/s (2021), the performance 2Sides (2022), and the immersive project Dancing Audience (2023).

Through its pioneering approach to blending artistry and technology, FPDC continues to redefine the possibilities of contemporary dance and create meaningful experiences for audiences worldwide.

Fabien Prioville

Fabien Prioville graduated at the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine (CNDC) in Angers. He later worked with Édouard Lock and his company ‘La La La Human Steps’ in Canada before he joined Philippe Blanchard in Stockholm.

In 1999 he became a member of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, performed the repertories such as Cafe Müller. He also performed in the movies from Pedro Almodovar’s Talk to Her (2002), and Wim Wender’s Pina (2011).

Since 2006 he has been working as a freelance dancer and choreographer, and worked together with Josef Nadj and Davis Freeman, Louise Lecavalier, Shutaro Oku, Hauschka, Tetro +A, Chris Cutler, Michiel van Erp, among others. His various commissioned works brought him to New York’s Juilliard School as well as Japan with: Tokyo Festival, Theater Group En, Dance Dance Asian, Ballet-NOAH. Further more: Perth Australia, Tanztheater Regensburg, Tanztheater Bielefeld Germany,  I.T.A Amsterdam, Holland Dance Festival Den Haag, Attakkalari Biennial Bangalore India, Bolivia, Montreal Canada, Mali, CDC La Termitière Burkina Faso. ADAF Festival Athens, Super 24 with Oschool Singapore.  He is invited internationally to give workshops and coaching to emerging artists.

Alexandra Schmidt

After her scientific examination of improvised dance she began her career as a cultural manager and was responsible for PR at PACT Zollverein and the Teo Otto Theater in Remscheid, where she organized international co-productions in contemporary dance together with the artistic director, in addition to her work in press and public relations and marketing. She was also involved in the development of the European festival Temps d’images.

In 2006 she founded her production office for contemporary dance. She organises public relations for various cultural projects, does the management for national and international dance companies.

In 2010 she founded Fabien Prioville Dance Company together with Fabien Prioville. She also works as a lecturer for theatre marketing and dance management and is she is bord member of the association Performing Arts – Freie Szene Düsseldorf e.V.

Carmen Kovacs

Carmen Kovacs is a freelance dance dramaturge and writer based in Munich. Her practice focuses on developing new narratives and rethinking body images, repertoire, and historically grown movement material in collaboration with choreographers such as Aszure Barton, Demis Volpi, Hélène Blackburn, Andrey Kaydanovskiy, or Eric Gauthier. With sincere appreciation for and a critical perspective on theater as an institution, Carmen has worked for the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich, the Ballett am Rhein in Düsseldorf Duisburg, and the Hamburg Ballet as a dramaturge and curatorial advisor.

After completing her bachelor’s degree in opera studies and her master’s degree in theater studies, Carmen studied art for three years with Olaf Nicolai at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.

As a writer, she received a residency scholarship from the Roger Willemsen Foundation in Hamburg in 2025 and spent two weeks on a sailing boat residency in the Arctic that same year. As a jury member, Carmen has been active for the Bavarian State Association for Contemporary Dance (BLZT) since 2019 and for the Munich Cultural Department’s Jury for Independent Dance Professionals since 2024. She was also part of the jury for the Tanzplattform Deutschland 2024, for the tanz nrw 25 festival, and TANZPAKT 2025.

Steven Sander

Steven Sander is a freelance cultural production manager.

Starting at Düsseldorf Festival! in 2017 and working for several performing arts platforms, he has been working for the Impulse Theater Festival since 2018 and is head of production at asphalt festival since the 2024 edition.

Besides working as production manager for companies such as Rimini Protokoll and HARTMANNMUELLER, he joined FPDC in the beginning of 2025.

Pascal Jung

During his Bachelor’s studies in Cultural Studies at the University of Koblenz, Pascal Jung completed a six-month internship at the Artistic Operations Office of the Düsseldorf Festival, followed by a role as a production assistant. After graduating with his Bachelor’s degree, he pursued a Master’s degree in Cultural Education and Cultural Management at the Hochschule Niederrhein in Mönchengladbach. Concurrently with his studies, he regularly contributed to the production of various festivals, including the Impulse Theater Festival and the asphalt Festival.

Since late 2021, he has been freelancing in the field of production, organization, and communication for various stakeholders in the independent dance and performance scene, collaborating with entities such as the Fabien Prioville Dance Company and Munich-based choreographer Moritz Ostruschnjak.