Mark Tompkins is an American dancer, choreographer, director, singer, and teacher, living in Paris where he founded his company I.D.A. in 1983. His unique way of fabricating unidentified performance objects, mixing dance, music, voice, text, and video has become his signature. Solos, group pieces, concerts and improvised performances are steps of his journey initiated in the 70’s, and with the complicity of scenographer Jean-Louis Badet since 1988. His passion for real time composition leads him to collaborate with many dancers, musicians, and light designers. Renowned for his teaching, he travels around the world. In 2008, he received the SACD Prize for Choreography for his work. Fascinated by the frictions and resonances between high and low entertainment, his performances are often inspired by popular forms such as music-hall, musical comedy, burlesque, and gender ambivalence. He sings and dances in the concerts of composer Sarah Murcia and musicians and collaborates with Portuguese choreographer Mariana Tengner Barros. In 2018, he created a solo, STAYIN ALIVE and in 2021, CELEBRATION, a trio musical with cellist Maxime Dupuis and vibraphonist Tom Gareil.
