Karole Armitage
Choreographer
United States
© Marco Mignani
In 2026, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting the presentation of Rave by Karole Armitage, performed by the Ballet de Lorraine at the Théâtre de la Ville as part of Chaillot Nomade, Chaillot’s off-site program.
Karole Armitage is an American choreographer and dancer renowned for her bold style that blends classical ballet, contemporary dance and punk culture. Trained in classical ballet at the School of American Ballet and the North Carolina School of the Arts, she began her career with the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, where she notably performed works by George Balanchine.
In 1976, she joined the company of Merce Cunningham, a major figure in contemporary dance whose influence deeply shaped her approach to movement and choreographic composition.
Armitage began creating her own works in the late 1970s. In 1981, she premiered Drastic Classicism, a landmark piece that combines the rigor of classical ballet and the raw energy of punk rock. The work earned her the nickname “punk ballerina,” emblematic of an artist who breaks with convention and bridges the worlds of high art and popular culture.
She later founded her own New York–based company, Armitage Gone! Dance, where she developed a body of work at once masterful, sensual and experimental. Guided by collaborations with composers, visual artists and scientists, her creations explore themes such as nature, physics and climate change.
Armitage has also choreographed for major international dance companies, opera productions and pop artists including Madonna and Michael Jackson.
Between 2000 and 2004, she was an associate artist with the Ballet de Lorraine. During this time, she created Rave in 2001, a work that will be revived by the CCN – Ballet de Lorraine in fall 2026.
The recipient of numerous awards, she was named Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2009.
Still active, she continues to develop a body of work that probes the boundaries between tradition and the avant-garde, formal beauty and artistic rebellion.
