Swiss scene prize for scene: a whirlwind named Philippe Olza
ThoseSwiss Prix des Arts on stage
A whirlwind named Philippe Olza
Trained at Dimitri and Maurice Béjart, this child of Confignon has dancing a lot and staging shows in Switzerland and abroad.
Philippe Olza, former dancer, actor and director.
Laurent Guiraud/Tamedia
- He received one of the Swiss Prix des Arts de la scene 2024.
- He was part of the XX ballete century from Béjart to Brussels.
- He made dance known to very varied Swiss audiences.
Here is a child of Confignon, born in 1961, who recently won a prize at the federal level. Last fall, Philippe Olza was awarded by the Federal Office for Culture (OFC) one of the nine Swiss Prix des Arts de la Scene of the Year 2024. This award is awarded to those who have contributed remarkably to the diversity of cultural creation of the scene arts in Switzerland.
For a long time, the destiny of the show man that has become Philippe Olza has been accomplished far from Geneva. Domiciled in Basel, present professionally in recent years in Neuchâtel, he has studied in Geneva, Ticino, danced in Paris, Brussels and Italy, played in many countries to the rhythm of very varied artistic tours.
Passionate about the circus
Since 2017, he has devoted himself to the programming of remarkable seasons of contemporary dance in Neuchâtel. “Winter of dances” then DNA – Dance Neuchâtel have allowed local talents and Swiss or foreign artists to occur from top to bottom of the canton, with a success never denied.
For Philippe Olza, Geneva remained the country of her childhood: “I was a real whirlwind, it was still going to the Confignon school, but at the Marais cycle I won. Then I was happy at the Töpffer school, where I took my first dance lessons. The circus arts attracted me. My mother had the good idea to register for school that the Ticino clown Dimitri had just opened in Verscio. ”
“As long as you don’t board us, everything is fine”
Philippe’s parents have never put sticks in the wheels: “As long as you don’t board us, everything is fine,” said his father Alfred Olza, professor of mathematics and dean of the Voltaire college, and builder with the godfather of Philippe from the family home in Lully.
In Verscio, the young Genevan participates in the second volley of theDimitri school. “A comrade and I was 15 years old, I found very enriching to study with older,” he recalls. This three -year -old Ticino stay geographically brings him closer to Poschiavo, in Graubünden, cradle of the Olza family. Already very well trained at Dimitri, Philippe is then going to improve in Paris at the Gruss circus school, where he is bored.
Noticed in “Barnum”
In Paris, the young man embarks on active life, dances in cabarets and varieties. Engaged in 1981 to play in the musical “Barnum” by Yves Mourousi, Philippe meets the choreographer of this production, Micha Van Hoecke, former dancer of the XX ballete century. This great artist is also the director of the prestigious Mudra school, founded in 1970 by Maurice Béjart in Brussels.
“Micha Van Hoecke is a key figure in my career,” explains Philippe Olza. He really set foot in the stirrup by bringing me to Mudra so that I can work later in his own dance theater company in Italy. And then Maurice Béjart offered to enter his: the prestigious XX ballete century. I started in 1983. “
“You will be a soldier”
Philippe Olza performs and creates roles for three seasons at Béjart who appreciates his talents as a dancer, actor and circus artist. “Béjart put my hand on my shoulder and said to me:” You will be a soldier, because in life we are all soldiers. ” I really felt like I was doing my military service, and I liked it. ” The dancer acknowledges that the great choreographer had dark sides, but he has a fantastic memory of the effervescence that reigned in the company, his creative momentum, a formidable brewing of very motivating talents. “Despite my excellent relations with Maurice Béjart, I wanted to go see elsewhere. We have stayed on good terms; He called me in 1992 for “A-6-Roc”, created at the Théâtre de Vidy. “
Philippe Olza takes care at that time of the reception of Iranian refugees in Belgium, some of which are engaged by him by Béjart to repaint his Brussels apartment! “Mauritius gave me a lot of objects for the flea market for the benefit of the Iranians,” recalls the Genevan.
After ten intense years – from 1987 to 1997 -, engaged in many artistic projects in Italy and France, Philippe Olza returned to Switzerland. He then produces shows, in which he plays or not and he stages. We remember four memorable evenings at the Swiss Institute in Rome in October 1998 with the Pro Helvetia Foundation. He will later take Swiss artists to Africa. At the end of last year, it was his atypical journey that was rewarded, that of an artist who has passed from the scene to production and dissemination, until the organization of a beautiful cultural project very regional in Neuchâtel.
Did you find an error? Please report it to us.
