Experiences
Improvised Encounters #2
Harris Gkekas, Charbel Haber, Romane Piffaut, Elise Bruyère, Mathieu Bertrand
Saturday, 20 June, 2026 @ 17h30 - Les Subs
30 min / Free entrance
Les Subs
Improvised Encounters is a 30-minute live collective creation bringing together artists from different disciplines (dance, music, text, visual arts), unfolding entirely in the moment and without rehearsals. The session is entirely improvised, begins at 0 minutes and ends at 30.
Invited Artists for Session #2: Harris Gkekas (Choreographer), Charbel Haber (Musician & Composer), Elise Bruyère (Dancer), Romane Piffaut (Dancer), Mathieu Bertrand (Comic Artist).
Harris Gkekas is a Greek dancer, choreographer, and teacher who began his career as a soloist with the Ballet de l’Opéra du Rhin, the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, and the Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon, and later collaborated with artists such as Christian Rizzo, Catherine Diverrès, Hervé Robbe, Michèle Noiret, Théo Mercier, Ioannis Mandafounis, Noëlle Genod, Lionel Hoche, Fabrice Lambert, and Jeanne Brouaye. Since 2015, his company STRATES has created nine works presented across Europe, and he has choreographed for the Greek National Opera Ballet, the Ballet de l’Opéra du Rhin, and institutions including the CNDC d’Angers and CNSMD Lyon.
Charbel Haber is a Lebanese musician, composer, and artist whose work explores memory, decay, and shifting identities between East and West. A key figure in the experimental scene, his practice spans music, film, and performance, blending the intimate with the political.
Based between Beirut and Paris, he develops international collaborations and residencies with New Atlantis Orchestra, Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), Groupe de Recherches Musicales, Studio Tarek Atoui, Cité Internationale des Arts, and Onassis Foundation.
Elise Bruyère is a Belgian contemporary dancer and performer. After graduating from the Conservatorium of Antwerp, she began working as a freelance dancer and developed a close collaboration with BAIRA | MVMNT PHLSPHY. She also collaborated with Valentina Nigro (Company Noi), Nawal Aït Benala (Cie LaBaraka) and Johana Malédon (Cie Mâle).
Since 2019, joined Omar Rajeh & Maqamat and an assistant choreographer on projects with the Tunisian National Ballet, while creating and performing her own work and currently teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Liège.
Romane Piffaut Franco-Portuguese choreographer and performer, trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon and artistic director of Cie QUAI6.
Her work explores how people and groups adapt under constraints, using instability, shared physical dependency, and emotional regulation to reveal new forms of collectivity, care, and resistance. Recent pieces investigate public space, hypersensitivity, physical interdependence, and alternative ways of communicating beyond language.
Passionate illustrator Mathieu Bertrand settled in the Rhône-Alpes region several years ago. Author of around ten comic albums, he also shares his love of drawing and comics through workshops open to all ages, enthusiastically passing on the tricks of the trade.
But Mathieu doesn’t stop at the drawing board: he enjoys bringing lines to life on stage! Whether solo or accompanied, he creates hybrid performances blending music, live drawing, and stage performance. He can be found in all-audience creations such as Battle BD, TATÚM (with Joseph Pariaud), REFLET (with Alexis Provot), (Ré)chauffe Marcel.le, and more.