Les Rencontres de Danse Aérienne was born under the impetus of Fred Deb’, an artist trained at the National Circus Arts Centre (CNAC) and who developed the discipline of aerial dance which launched her into an international career: she began in 1996 with a tour in Australia with the ARTS SAUTS, a famous French contemporary circus company renowned over the world for its unique shows of flying and fixed trapezes. Fred Deb’ then focused on the practice of aerial fabric, a discipline in which she is now considered as a pioneer (some choreographic gestures bear her name in the USA). In 2002, she became an international reference in this new discipline at the crossroads of dance and circus. She is invited around the world as an artist, choreographer and teacher.
Fred Deb’ has therefore initiated and trained many young artists in these new aerial disciplines: she has taught at the Aerial Dance Festival (Boulder Coloradao, USA), the Irish Aerial Dance Festival (Ireland), the European Aerial Dance Festival (UK), Aerial Edge Circus Convention (UK), Santa Barbara Floor to Air Festival (USA),
Ever passionate about this art as well as its knowledge transmission, and remaining unknown to the general public, she decided to spotlight the aerial arts when she moved to Saint-Nazaire (France). This is how the project of the festival was born in 2009, as Fred Deb’ was working on in parallel with her artist career and teacher.