​Sophie Ménissier, France

​Sophie Ménissier is a dancer, choreographer, and the founder of la Compagnie ISAO, a dance company based in Paris. La Compagnie ISAO promotes a style of dance combining the Gypsy enthusiasm with contemporary aesthetics. Drawing on the traditional gestures, Ménissier’s dance explores individual development as well as inter-cultural and inter-generational encounters.

After a training in classical dance and jazz, Ménissier discovered the Russian character dance with Olga Stens and entered at the age of 20 the Company of Nadège L.Loujine, former professor at the Paris Opera. Later, she joined the group of the virtuoso Pétia Yurchenko from the Moscow Roma Theater. She was then trained as a rehearsal and choreographer in the Jewish tradition company Adama and got initiated to the oriental dance by Mayodi, with whom she danced for 8 years under the stage name of Amal and worked as a choreographer for the show Moucharabieh. A few detours allowed her to further develop her scenic experience: Latin American shows, operettas, music hall, cinema while training in pedagogy by obtaining three state diplomas: that of the Pedagogical Institute of Choreographic Art (Ipac), the Bachelor's Degree in Dance and Pedagogy at the Paris IV Sorbonne University and the Arts-Therapies Master's degree at the Paris V Descartes University.