Performance Lighthouse

Platform for the promotion of performance art projects driven by EPFL students.

DÆNCITY 2026

Public performances

10th of April 2026, at 7pm, Sévelin 36

5th of May 2026, at 12pm, Festival Les Culturelles, Hall SG, EPFL

12th of June 2026, at 6.30pm, Festival Magma, Sévelin 36

DÆNCITY, Festival Magma, Sévelin 36, Lausanne, June 2025. Photo : Mehdi Bouguerra Ezzina

The DÆNCITY 2026 public performances are the result of an intensive 4 day artistic residency that took place in April 2026 with 25 students and other EPFL and UNIL members at the theatre Sévelin 36. During that time, the participants followed a dance improvisation workshop led by choreographers Noémie Cuérel and Matthieu Ruf. They also took part in a reflexive workshop led by the EPFL PhD student Tanja Ulrich and the performance artist Simona Ferrar, during which they discussed the relevance of experimenting artistic practices for their studies and future professional life.

These public performances are an opportunity for us to share with our scientific and student community, the discoveries the participants came up with during this unique residency. It will be a time to connect bodies with creativity, collective work and improvisation, science and art, and to thus stimulate thoughts and exchanges on these fundamental questions.

The DÆNCITY 2026 residency is inspired by the SHS course Improgineering led by Professor Simon Henein in collaboration with performance artist Joëlle Valterio, since 2017.

Concept and artistic coordination : Prof. Simon Henein (EPFL) and Simona Ferrar

Choreography : Noémie Cuérel and Matthieu Ruf

Reflexive workshop : Tanja Ulrich et Simona Ferrar

Coordination Sévelin 36 : Morgane Stephan

Photography : Quentin Leresche, étudiant section architecture, EPFL

Partner : Sévelin 36, Lausanne

The mission of EPFL’s Performance Lighthouse, launched in Spring 2024, is to lead the conceptualization, organization, coordination, production, and promotion of performance art projects driven by students of EPFL, in collaboration with external art institutions.

Through this initiative, this platform aims to build a network that facilitates cross-fertilization between the artistic endeavors of EPFL students and alumi, local art institutions and relevant activities.

Article about the Performance Lighthouse : “EPFL builds a new lighthouse dedicated to performance art”

Student Performance Art Projects

DÆNCITY DÆNCITY Artistic residency, performances, exhibitions and academic research, for EPFL students, in collaboration with Sévelin 36. Improgineering Improgineering Movement workshops on the campus for EPFL students and staff. Movement improv’ for everyone on the campus! Movement improv’ for everyone on the campus! The “Collective creation: improvised arts and engineering” course (IMPROGINEERING) is part of the Social and Human Sciences (SHS) programme at EPFL, in collaboration with the Arsenic.

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Education

Research in learning sciences demonstrates that engagement in performing arts practices enhances students’ learning processes, bridging the gap between theory and practice and promoting boundary crossing from academic to extracurricular realms. This integration is rooted in the involvement of the body in knowledge acquisition and production, the collective essence of creativity and the potent role of improvisation in all living actions.

  • The course IMPROGINEERING: “Collective creation: improvised arts and engineering” was developed by Prof. Simon Henein, in collaboration with performance artist Joëlle Valterio and the Arsenic (Lausanne’s Center for Contemporary Scenic Art). Since 2017, this course has been introducing students to improvisation techniques developed in the living arts (theater, music, dance, performance) and examining their possible transposition to engineering design practices.

Outreach

Academically recognizing and supporting the artistic endeavors of EPFL students enables the valorization of these initiatives within the curricula such as through the allocation of ECTS credits to semester or master’s projects. Moreover, extending the reach of these initiatives beyond academia by creating public events in partnership with external artistic institutions enhances the exchanges with the city and broader community.

Research

Academically recognizing and supporting the artistic endeavors of EPFL students enables the valorization of these initiatives within the curricula such as through the allocation of ECTS credits to semester or master’s projects. Moreover, extending the reach of these initiatives beyond academia by creating public events in partnership with external artistic institutions enhances the exchanges with the city and broader community.

Team

  • Simon Henein
    EPFL Professor in Microengineering & Head of the Performance Lighthouse
  • Simona Ferrar
    Project Manager, dancer and performance artist

Partners