Dance was Françoise’s first love. Born and brought up in Switzerland, she came to London in 1975 to study contemporary dance. She then slowly established herself as a dance artist, always performing on her own but creating works in collaboration with visual artists, photographers and choreographers. She then developed skills as a photographer and installation artist.
Most of her performance works were made between 1982 and 2000 and the shows toured widely in the UK and Switzerland. Her main themes were women’s issues and feminist aesthetics, particularly the way the body is defined and perceived in western culture. Her signature style combined dance, projected slides and installations, creating highly visual and emotional works.
On this page you can view videos of performances from the early years (1983 - 1986) and the late years (1995 - 2000). The videos are digital versions of original VHS tapes. To view her other performance works, go to this page. Very early works (1978 - 1984) are omitted.
Introduction Video
filmed at Colchester Arts Centre (UK)
before a performance of The Rebelonging (1992)
Archive Articles
Tucked away in her archives, Françoise found a couple of articles she wrote about her work in the 1980s, describing her main concerns as a feminist dance artist.
The first article was published in Spare Rib, the iconic feminist monthly magazine published from 1972 to 1993. Here is Spare Rib No 137, the complete December 1983 issue of the magazine (view as a pdf). Françoise's article about dance and feminism is on page 6 and 7.
Here is an article Françoise wrote in 1985, as part of an exhibition at the Brixton Art Gallery: Making Grounds to Act (view as a pdf). The article describes creating a performance work about male violence in collaboration with artist Gail Bourgeois.
Videos of Early Works
The Fish and the Bicycle
dance performance by Françoise Sergy (1983)
music: Leo Delibes, Joe Venuti
video by David Finch (1984)
UK tour: 8 venues
The title of this work comes from the phrase "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle", originally coined by Irina Dunn, Australian activist, writer and film-maker. The performance includes Françoise’s bicycle, some red Dutch clogs and a Venezuelan cloak. The artist is pleased to have a good video recording of this early piece, which was performed specifically for the camera and depicts her work perfectly. She thanks David Finch for initiating the video project.
Below are some images of the dance performance.
The Fish and the Bicycle
dance performance by Françoise Sergy
The Fish and the Bicycle
dance performance by Françoise Sergy
The Fish and the Bicycle
dance performance by Françoise Sergy
The Fish and the Bicycle
dance performance by Françoise Sergy
The Fish and the Bicycle
dance performance by Françoise Sergy
The Fish and the Bicycle
dance performance by Françoise Sergy
Grounds to Act
an enquiry into male violence
a dance performance by Françoise Sergy (1985)
a collaboration with artist Gail Bourgeois
voices: Pamela Ellis, Judy Hinds
text quotes from Ruth Hall, Susan Brownmiller, Andrea Dworkin, Susan Griffin
music by Mozart, Holly Near, Stephan Grappelli, Billy Holiday, Frankie Armstrong
funded by Greater London Arts Association
video by Jan Mathew (1988)
UK tour: 20 venues
This video was filmed during a public performance at Brighton Polytechnic (now University of Brighton, UK). Low performance lighting has at times hindered the video recording, with some of the images and dance movement lost.
A quote from the original programme:
"When we look at male violence against women, we are confronted with the myths and the facts. The myths that say that good girls don’t get raped, that the woman asked for it, that rapists are strangers looming in dark alleys. While the facts reveal that in London, 1 woman in 6 has been raped, 1 in 3 has been sexually assaulted and the majority by men they knew.
And here the questions start: Why do men hate women so? Why are we used as tools for murderous sexual acts and fantasies? Studying this, we find links between men’s hatred of women and men’s fear of themselves. Between sexism and the hatred of the body. Between sexism and racism. And when we look back at the everyday images around us, we find connections between them and what is defined as extreme porn. They use the same set of rules: Women are objects, available, defenseless; self-humiliating, self-mutilating.
And so we act. From fear to action: anger. From action to strength: control. Moving away from the acceptance of the role of the victim. Moving beyond, into a space and state of mind of respect and love of ourselves. A woman takes over and becomes a thinker, a maker, a creative being.
Self-defence is an act of love. For loving ourselves is the grounding, like an anvil against the blows."
Body Wonder
a dance performance by Françoise Sergy (1986)
photography by Honey Salvadori
drawings by Wendy Latham
music by Guem et Zaka, Frankie Armstrong, Miriam Makeba
funded by Greater London Arts and Lambeth Arts Council
filmed by David Finch
UK tour: 19 venues
Body Wonder was filmed but never edited into a complete video. Here you can see three dance sections.
The show is about four sportswomen and dancers in action, running, fighting, playing and laughing, talking about their hopes, achievements, pleasures and pains: gymnast Cathy Devine, dancer and amateur footballer Johanna Godliman, martial artist Michele Raithby and choreographer Beverly Glean. The work combines interviews and photographs of the sportswomen with Françoise’s dance performance. Images of the sportswomen are below.
Body Wonder
Gymnast Cathy Devine (1) (photography: Honey Salvadori).
Body Wonder
Gymnast Cathy Devine (2) (photography: Honey Salvadori).
Body Wonder
Choreographer Beverley Glean (photography: Honey Salvadori).
Body Wonder
Dancer and amateur footballer Johanna Godliman (photography: Honey Salvadori).
Body Wonder
Martial artist Michele Raithby (1) (photography: Honey Salvadori).
Body Wonder
Martial artist Michele Raithby (2) (photography: Honey Salvadori).
Videos of Late Works
A Head of Dust
a dance performance and installation by Françoise Sergy (1995)
a collaboration with choreographer Henrietta Esiri
music by Jan Garbarek
video by Stephen Littman
UK tour: 10 venues
This video was filmed during a public performance at Chisenhale Dance Space, London (UK). Low performance lighting has at times hindered the video recording, with some of the images and performance details lost. Below is a selection of the images which were part of the installation.
A Head of Dust is Françoise’s most abstract performance work. It sits on the edge of dance. The artist interacts with her installation until it is transformed. She uses a very emotional, personal language, focusing on the body, particularly the fear we have of the body. New technology talks of a virtual world and yet our body remains, becoming more and more fragile as we get older.
A Head of Dust is a story about loss, using dance, photographic imagery, organic and edible substances. A large mound of sawdust lies in a pool of distorting mirror. The mirror is surrounded by little heaps of sugar, each with an egg nesting on top. Above hang two screens, slowly swinging and shedding their skin, showing images of empty rooms, fragments of movement, bare landscapes. The work is about a deeply physical and personal loss whose origin is never revealed, leaving the viewer to weave their own response and memory into the performer’s ritual.
A Head of Dust
My father’s empty sawmill, after his death, Switzerland (1).
A Head of Dust
My father’s empty sawmill, after his death, Switzerland (2).
A Head of Dust
My father’s empty sawmill, after his death, Switzerland (3).
A Head of Dust
My father’s empty sawmill, after his death, Switzerland (4).
A Head of Dust
Empty flat (1), London (UK).
A Head of Dust
Empty flat (2), London (UK).
A Head of Dust
Rushing river (1).
A Head of Dust
Rushing river (2).
A Head of Dust
Rock horse.
A Head of Dust
By the sea, Lake District, UK.
A Head of Dust
Grass and sky (1).
A Head of Dust
Grass and sky (2).
A Head of Dust
Hands and feet (1).
A Head of Dust
Hands and feet (2).
A Head of Dust
Hands and feet (3).
A Head of Dust
Hands and feet (4).
A Head of Dust
Hands and feet (5).
A Head of Dust
Hands and feet (6).
A Head of Dust
Flooded playground (1), London (UK).
A Head of Dust
Flooded playground (2), London (UK).
A Head of Dust
Flooded playground (3), London (UK).
A Head of Dust
Self-portrait with distorting mirror (5).
A Head of Dust
Self-portrait with distorting mirror (6).
A Head of Dust
Self-portrait with mirror.
IVF+ACL An Unstable Body
a dance performance and installation by Françoise Sergy (1997)
a collaboration with choreographer Henrietta Esiri
music by Schubert, Penderecki
video by Jonathan Bloom
UK tour: 13 venues
Here the video of the performance has been divided into four sections:
Fertility Treatment 1
Unstable Knee
Fertility Treatment 2
End
"ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament. Because of an injury, my right knee is now unstable, giving way at times as if I had suddenly lost a leg. An operation will be required to reconstruct the torn ligament. IVF stands for in vitro fertilisation, a treatment which allows the very first stage of conception to be made visible by stimulating egg production, making fertilisation occur outside of the body and implanting the early embryo back in the uterus."
"For the past year my body has been mapped out through a series of high-tech medical interventions. Probes, tubes, needles, human hands have manipulated and entered it repeatedly. It has been inflated to enable video camera access. It has been placed inside scanners which use intense magnetic fields. It has received powerful drugs altering its normal functions. It has been put to sleep by anaesthetist angels, to be woken in a state of heightened and distorted awareness."
The installation is the central hub of the performance: a large open glass structure, in the middle of which lies a rectangular frame filled with a smooth white substance. Projected images run across the installation from both front and back. A tangible, clear glass barrier separates the artist from the audience. She is exploring the inside of her body whilst digital images dissect it without a drop of blood. Physical experience is pitted against technological knowledge. Can both share a common intelligence, a joint understanding? IVF+ACL faces the inevitability of a body which remains, unstable...
Below is a selection of the images which were part of the installation.
IVF + ACL
Close-up of pregnancy test, ovulation kits and menstrual calendar.
IVF + ACL
Close-up of ovulation test kits.
IVF + ACL
Ovulation test kits.
IVF + ACL
A nurse prepares to inject fertility treatment drugs (1).
IVF + ACL
A nurse prepares to inject fertility treatment drugs (2).
IVF + ACL
A nurse prepares to inject fertility treatment drugs (3).
IVF + ACL
Laparoscopy (1): keyhole surgery of the inside of my abdomen, showing the uterus, ovaries, Fallopian tubes and fatty tissue.
IVF + ACL
Hysteroscopy: keyhole procedure looking inside my uterus.
IVF + ACL
Laparoscopy (2): keyhole surgery of the inside of my abdomen, showing the uterus, one ovary and Fallopian tube, and a surgical tool.
IVF + ACL
Hysterosalpingogram (1): X-ray of my uterus and Fallopian tubes.
IVF + ACL
Laparoscopy (3): keyhole surgery of the inside of my abdomen, showing the internal abdominal wall.
IVF + ACL
Hysterosalpingogram (2): X-ray of my uterus and Fallopian tubes, showing the pelvic bones.
LH Phantom
a dance performance and installation by Françoise Sergy (1998)
a collaboration with artist Emma Woffenden
a commission by the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art
a residency at St George’s Hospital, London
funded by The Arts Council of England
video by A19 Films
UK tour: 9 venues
"I will probably never know what happens to my eggs and all this sperm. Do they meet, do they become an embryo? What do they do, where do they go? What happens to this silent event, located inside myself and yet so totally independent..."
This video was filmed during a public performance at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in Sunderland (UK). Although some details of the performance have been lost, the video captures the work well. The artist is pleased to have good recordings of both her early piece The Fish and the Bicycle and of LH Phantom, her last performance work.
LH Phantom continues Françoise’s exploration of the body and medical imaging started with IVF + ACL, An Unstable Body. This work was performed on its own first then together with LH Phantom. The making of LH Phantom began during a residency at the Fetal Medicine Unit of St George’s Hospital, London (UK), exploring ultrasound technology. There, Françoise was able to be present and photograph patients’ ultrasound scans of their babies in the womb. She also worked with an old ultrasound scanner, attempting to scan everyday objects. The images were included in the performance, as well as in a separate exhibition at the Fetal Medicine Unit. You can find more information about the residency at the hospital on this page.
In IVF + ACL the audience is seated in front of the installation and a tangible, see-through barrier separates people from the performer. In LH Phantom, the audience is seated inside the installation, close to the artist and the action. The performance takes place in the centre, on a bed of glass blocks. Both works deal with the trauma of a serious injury and the complex issues surrounding fertility treatment. The artist is coming face to face with a deep loss and the inevitability of a fragile body, changed forever.
Both works toured the UK until 2000. LH Phantom was Françoise’s last dance performance work.
As a commission by the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, LH Phantom was part of the exhibition Embody: Contemporary Sculptural Glass. An excerpt from the exhibition catalogue describing the performance can be viewed as a pdf: Embody excerpt. Below is a selection of the images which were part of the installation.
LH Phantom
My knee operation (1): being wheeled into theatre.
LH Phantom
My knee operation (2) (photo taken by the consultant anaesthetist, at my request).
LH Phantom
My knee operation (3) (photo taken by the consultant anaesthetist, at my request).
LH Phantom
My knee operation (4) (photo taken by the consultant anaesthetist, at my request).
LH Phantom
My knee operation (5) (photo taken by the consultant anaesthetist, at my request).
LH Phantom
In the recovery room after my knee operation (photo taken by the consultant anaesthetist, at my request).
LH Phantom
Fetal ultrasound (1), 18 weeks, St George’s Hospital, London (UK).
LH Phantom
Fetal ultrasound (2), 16 weeks, St George’s Hospital, London (UK).
LH Phantom
Fetal ultrasound (3), 18 weeks, St George’s Hospital, London (UK).
LH Phantom
Ultrasound scan of unknown object (1).
LH Phantom
The Scream: ultrasound of a lightbulb.
LH Phantom
Ultrasound scan of unknown object (2).