Jean-Marc Puis­sant

Jean-Marc is a set and costume designer creating for the performing arts and exhibitions. Working across genres, Jean-Marc’s work is rooted in the cultural and practical identity of art forms, in collaboration, committing to support the craft of performers and connect with a varied, multicultural, contemporary audience. Story-telling, narrative or abstract, is central to his practice. He collaborates with renowned directors, choreographers, curators and brands, at major opera houses, theatres and museums across the U.S. (Metropolitan Opera House; Lincoln Center; operas in Santa Fe, Chicago Lyric, Los Angeles, St Louis; Brooklyn Museum), the UK (Royal Ballet, Royal Opera; Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet; Sadler’s Wells), Europe (Opéra de Paris; Vienna State Opera; Théâtre du Châtelet; Venice Biennale), Japan (New National; Bunkamura) and Australia (Australian Ballet). Recent commissions include Oscar and Corybantic Games (Wheeldon), Kallirhoe and Tchaikovsky Overtures (Ratmansky), Soirée Ravel (Breiner / Siegal), Ballet Impérial (Balanchine) and La Boutique (Bond). Future commissions include Paquita (Legris), Madame Butterfly (Santa Fe Opera, revival) and works for Royal Danish Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet. His productions have won several Laurence Olivier, South Bank Show and Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. A finalist of World Stage Design 2013, he was nominated as Best Scenographer at the 2016 Benois de la Danse for the diversity of his work across several productions.

In August 2019, Jean-Marc curated a critically acclaimed program for New York’s Joyce Theater’s Festival. He was awarded a 2018 Resident Fellowship at New York University’s Center for Ballet and the Arts, researching a multi-disciplinary project, Kingdom of Shades – Dance Beyond Choreographic Identity. Jean-Marc is a judge and committee member of Linbury Prize for Stage Design, and a guest tutor in scenography at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama. He trained at the Motley Theatre Design Course, London, and studied Art History at La Sorbonne, Paris. He was a trustee of Dance Umbrella, London’s international contemporary dance festival, and of Dancers’ Career Development, the UK based charity supporting dancers transitioning into alternative careers after retiring. Jean-Marc’s career began as a professional dancer with Stuttgart Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet; he danced and created roles across classical and contemporary repertoires. He graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and School of Paris Opera Ballet.