Performance Lighthouse
Public performance of Improgineering students at ARSENIC, Lausanne, May 2022 (Credits: S. Henein)
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 conducted at DHI labs and other EPFL labs.
DÆNCITY
DÆNCITY is a stage performance created by some forty students during a residency in April 2025 at Sévelin 36 in Lausanne.
Three public performances:
Performance DÆNCITY I
The premiere takes place at Théâtre Sévelin 36 on the final day of the residency.
Performance DÆNCITY II
The second takes place at EPFL as part of the Les Culturelles festival.
Performance DÆNCITY III
The third will take place at Théâtre Sévelin 36, as part of the Magma festival.
Other events:
DAENCITY: Artistic residency for EPFL Students at Théâtre Sévelin 36
Dance workshop and reflective laboratory.
The body on stage in light of improvisation
Workshop within the “BODY” module of the CAS “Dramaturgie et performance du texte” run by La Manufacture and UNIL.
Movement Improv’
Movement improvisation workshop open to all EPFL students and staff every second Tuesday : 18th of March, 1st, 15th and 29th of April, 13th and 27th of May – MED hall
Public presentations of the SHS IMPROGINEERING course
Students’ public presentation of the EPFL-ARSENIC course “Collective creation: improvised arts and engineering”. General rehearsal open to the public on Tuesday, the 20th of May 2025, 7.30-9.30pm – Final performance on Wednesday the 21st of May, 7.30pm – 9pm followed by a round table with the jury
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”, integrated into EPFL’s Human and Social Sciences (SHS) program, 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:
Performing Arts as Pedagogical Tool in Higher Education (ASCOPET)
Team:
- Simon Henein
EPFL Professor in Microengineering & Head of the Performance Lighthouse
- Simona Ferrar
Project Manager, dancer and choreographer
- Joëlle Valterio
Technical specialist & performer
- Alain Bovet
Postdoctoral researcher in sociology - Tanja Ulrich
PhD Student, ETHZ-EPFL Joint Doctoral Program in Learning Sciences