Lava
Projects, Agenda, About
Contact
La compagnie

Lava is a molten body. Liquid, burning, formless, uncontrollable, it spills, flows, and escapes. Its polymorphic nature represents our creative magma, which crystallizes in turn into lava flows, slag, or fumaroles. Lava also refers to the fluids circulating through performers’ bodies. Subjected to physical strain, they absorb and secrete water, sweat, saliva, and tears. Lava is the plastic and sculptural potential of a substance in motion, constantly metamorphosing between different states of matter.

Anna Chirescu, dancer and choreographer, and Grégoire Schaller, visual artist and performer, began collaborating in 2017 and founded the company Lava to support their joint and independent projects. The company has developed an artistic identity at the intersection of dance, performance, and visual arts. By subjecting bodies to various constraints, their projects explore the notions of spectacle and virtuosity through a critical lens, questioning the objectification of bodies and our relationship to archetypal figures.

Their two joint choreographic works, Dirty Dancers (2018) and Ordeal by Water (2023), were created as part of the festival Les Inaccoutumés at the Ménagerie de Verre. Their work has been presented in both museums and performance venues, such as the Centre Pompidou, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Palais de Tokyo, the MAC VAL, and the Carreau du Temple in Paris. Their upcoming respective works, mata! and KATA, are being presented at Klap, Maison pour la danse (Marseille), as part of the Actoral festival, at L’Étoile du Nord (Paris), as part of the Immersion Danse festival and at the Festival des Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine Saint Denis.

Anna Chirescu
Open
Close

A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse (CNSMD), Anna Chirescu has worked as a performer with various choreographers, including Jean-Claude Gallotta, Bill Young, Ashley Chen, and Daniel Larrieu. From 2013 to 2020, she danced with the CNDC in Angers under the direction of Robert Swinston, performing the Merce Cunningham repertoire in France and internationally.
In 2017, she co-founded a company with visual artist Grégoire Schaller, with whom she creates choreographic works and performances at the intersection of dance and visual arts. In 2022, she premiered her first piece, VACA and in 2025 the solo KATA. As artistic collaborator, Anna regularly works with artists from other disciplines such as theatre, music, and visual arts, including Théo Mercier, François Chaignaud, Violaine Lochu, Agnès Turnauer, Aurélia Ivan, Vincent Thomasset, Daphné Biiga Nwanak & Baudouin Woehl, Lorraine de Sagazan, as well as musicians from the Ensemble Intercontemporain.
Alongside her artistic practice, she holds Master’s degrees in Modern Literature (Sorbonne Paris III) and in Public Affairs (Sciences Po Paris). Anna regularly teaches workshops and dancer training sessions at venues such as the Ménagerie de Verre, CNSMD Paris, and CND Pantin.

Grégoire Schaller
Open
Close

Grégoire Schaller is a multidisciplinary artist who studied design at ENS Cachan and ENSCI – Les Ateliers (Paris). He has worked with visual artists such as Eva Robarts, Katie Stout, Théo Mercier, and Matthew Barney.
Since 2016, he has been developing collaborative, transdisciplinary performance projects that connect bodies with archetypal figures such as the weightlifter, the matador, or the cowboy. In addition to his ongoing work with Anna Chirescu, he has created Deep Water (2018) with Arthur Hoffner, Crash (2021) with Florian Pautasso, and mata! (2024) with Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust. Through these pieces, he explores our relationship to death and loss, the naturalization of power dynamics, and the construction of dominant narratives.
In 2024 and 2025, he is a recipient of residency programs at Villa Albertine (Marfa, TX) and Villa Kujoyama (Kyoto). He has also performed in works by Théo Mercier and Stéphanie Aflalo.

Collaborators
Open
Close
  • Aflalo Stéphanie
    (metteuse en scène et comédienne)
  • Berger Romy
    (photographe)
  • Bourdon Tom
    (créateur lumière)
  • Bouvier Simon
    (graphiste et développeur)
  • Cabanes Camille
    (administratrice de production)
  • Déliot Simon
    (musicien et scénographe)
  • Dolatyari-Dolatdoust Darius
    (chorégraphe et costumier)
  • Escarmelle Elodie
    (assistante)
  • Hoffner Arthur
    (plasticien)
  • Joubert Grégory
    (musicien compositeur)
  • Kollyris Elissa
    (administratrice de production)
  • Lacour Fanny
    (photographe)
  • Leduc Florian
    (créateur lumière)
  • Maire Gabrielle
    (créatrice lumière)
  • Maurisse François
    (collaborateur artistique et dramaturge)
  • Pautasso Florian
    (metteur en scène et comédien)
  • Pernão Catarina
    (danseuse)
  • Pierre Florence
    (photographe)
  • Rahal Lynda
    (dramaturge)
  • Rogeboz Flora
    (danseuse assistante)
  • Sambot Clara
    (graphiste et typographe)
  • Schiavo Carlo
    (danseur assistant)
  • Seigle Goujon Claire
    (danseuse assistante)
  • Tomeo Verges
    (regard extérieur)
  • Spooner Gordon
    (photographe)
Credits
Open
Close
Press