The German Swiss performance art collective CocoonDance was founded in 2000 by the Swiss choreographer Rafaële Giovanola and the German dramaturge Rainald Endraß. CocoonDance has been producing and performing in the independent Theater im Ballsaal in Bonn, Germany, since the season 2004/05 and has established itself as a dance art institution with an extensive network not only within the artistic world, but also in the field of cultural education. An important pillar of the company is located in the Swiss Canton of Valais, where CocoonDance has been co-produced since 2005. In 2020, CocoonDance was appointed Associate Artist of the Théâtre du Crochetan in Monthey. Since its founding, the company has produced about forty full-length productions that have toured through five continents, have been awarded numerous prizes and been invited to showcase festivals in Germany, Switzerland and France like the Tanzplattform Deutschland - Dance Platform Germany, Steps, Antigel, Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, Les Hivernales Avignon etc.. The driving force behind 24 years of artistic development is improvisation, consistent dramaturgy and a strong emphasis on continuous teamwork. CocoonDance’ productions not only break down the spatial barriers of conventional stage experience, but also play with our perception of the body in a sophisticated way. The audience not only participates in a (new) representation of reality, but also in its creation. CocoonDance’ work can be explained as a reflection on dance and the body itself, as a displacement of the dance space from a narrative space to a space of perception and thought. Rafaële Giovanola (Choreographer), Swiss, born in Baltimore, USA. She studied at Marika Besobrasova in Monte Carlo. Following her first engagement as a soloist in Turin. After one season in Turin, Rafaële Giovanola was engaged by Egon Madsen for the Frankfurt Ballet. There, she danced the classical repertoire and cooperated with several modern choreographers like Jiri Kylian, Uwe Scholz and William Forsythe, the Frankfurt Ballet choreographer. Under his direction she stayed with the Frankfurt Ballet for eight years, being involved in all productions of this new groundbreaking era. During her engagement in Frankfurt, she met the guest-choreographers Daniel Larrieu, Stephen Petronio and Christoph Nel. Since 1990, when the Choreographic Theatre was founded, Rafaële Giovanola is a member of Pavel Mikuláštik’s company. In 1995 Rafaële Giovanola was mentioned in the annual poll of critics of „ballett international/tanz aktuell“ in the category „exceptional dancing personalities“. Rafaële Giovanola has been teaching for different Compagnies like in the Opera of Bonn at the Städtischen Bühnen Freiburg in Breisgau, the tanzhaus NRW in Düsseldorf, the Brotfabrik Bonn, the Theater in St. Gallen (CH), at the Staatstheater Nürnberg and for the Ewgenij Panfilow Company in Perm, Russia. In collaboration with partners like Goethe-Institut and Pro Helvetia she has given workshops around the world. For her work as well in the field of art education Rafaele awarded multiple prizes. For her debut “Jigaboo” she got the award of the Patrizia-Van-Roessel Foundation (NL), in 2007 she won the international internet-dance festival SideBySide-net, in 2010 the sponsorship grant from the canton of Valais, in 2021 she received the cultural award of the city of Monthey and in 2022 the Deutsche Theaterpreis DER FAUST. In 2017 she established a junior company in Monthey (CH) and before 2012 in Bonn, which have been awarded numerous prizes like “Kinder zum Olymp”, “Auf dem Weg zum Kinder- und Jugendkulturland NRW” and was invited in 2016, 2019 and 2023 to “Tanztreffen der Jugend” as part of the Berliner Festspiele.