 I wouldn’t ban. I don’t believe in bans. I come from a context, geographically, historically, emotionally, where punishment was the default pedagogical language. Where alterity was absent. Where your own desire, curiosity, will, were the last ones to be heard. Where you had to erase yourself to be accepted. Where to exist, you had to disappear.
And it never worked. Or rather, it worked too well: it created submission, fear, silence, and deep fractures in confidence and self-worth. So instead of banning, I challenge. I encourage internal disobedience. I invite unlearning: unlearning intimidation, unlearning the limiting thoughts you’ve inherited about yourself and your capabilities. Unlearning being the last one you listen to. Unlearning academic automatisms, institutionalized patterns, lessons we picked up during our studies without realizing how harmful they are. So, I can’t say what would I ban, but here are three things I intentionally challenge in my educational model: 1. Competition as structure. I challenge the idea that artists must prove themselves against one another. That creativity is a race, and success is reserved for the few. I’ve seen too many voices silenced before they ever spoke, convinced they weren’t good enough, or worse, that someone else was better. My learning spaces are designed for collaboration, not comparison. Here, no one wins at the expense of another. We grow side by side. Each person brings something irreplaceable, incomparable. Difference is not a threat, it’s the foundation of community. 2. Overload as virtue. I challenge the worship of exhaustion, the belief that being overworked is a sign of commitment, that intensity equals depth, that rest is weakness. In academic art schools, the norm is long days, no time to pause, multiple projects to juggle at once, and always a final product to present. In contrast, I value digestion. I believe in giving time and space: time to rest, to reflect, to step back. Not every process needs to be visible. Not every journey ends with a polished outcome. Slowness is not failure; it is often the only way to access nuance, to notice details, to allow real depth to emerge. Because depth doesn’t grow in haste. It requires focus. And focus takes time. 3. Scale as success. I challenge the equation of size with success. I’ve been running the School of Disobedience for years, and I’ve made a deliberate choice: to stay small. I don’t want to grow bigger. I don’t want more visibility, more recognition, more followers. That’s not my path. Traditional art education often encourages the opposite, it teaches you to desire expansion. To seek fame, to network endlessly, to scale up at any cost. Visibility becomes the metric of value. But I resist that narrative. I believe in smallness. In details. In focus. My groups are tiny (no more than four participants at a time) and that is entirely intentional. Smallness is not a limitation, it’s a radical choice. A form of resistance that protects the essence of what we do. It allows us to go deep, to stay present, to truly see and support one another. In a world obsessed with more, I choose enough.
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 Human desire revolves around the idea of lacking what we do not have, making it a central part of our existence. We constantly yearn for what we perceive as missing, and this perpetual desire keeps us from true contentment. Desire equates to lack, and lack brings suffering.
Happiness is often thought of as having what we want, but it's not about having everything we want. Kant suggests that true happiness is more an ideal of imagination than reason. Real contentment comes from fulfilling a significant portion of our desires. However, we only desire what we don't have, so we are perpetually seeking and never completely satisfied. When a desire is fulfilled, it ceases to be a desire. Sartre said, “Pleasure is the death and failure of desire.” Once we get what we want, it loses its allure, and we start longing for something new. Therefore, happiness isn't about having what we once desired but continuously having new desires. Unfulfilled desires cause frustration and suffering, while fulfilled desires lead to boredom, as the lack and longing that drive us dissipate. The object of our desire, when unattained, seems to hold unparalleled value. But once achieved, it loses its significance, and we quickly move on to desiring something new. Eastern philosophies, particularly Buddhism, emphasize the idea that attachment to desires is the root of suffering. The Four Noble Truths teach that recognizing the nature of suffering, understanding its cause (attachment and desire), and following the Eightfold Path can lead to liberation from this cycle. By letting go of attachment and learning to be present, one can find peace and contentment that transcends the ups and downs of desire. As Schopenhauer states, happiness is not the presence of desire but its absence. You might think, "I would be happy if..." but whether the "if..." comes true or not, true happiness is rarely found. Instead, we oscillate between suffering from unfulfilled desires and boredom from satisfied ones. This leads to the grim realization summed up by Schopenhauer's quote: "Life swings like a pendulum, from right to left, from suffering to boredom." George Bernard Shaw poignantly summarized this paradox by stating: "There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it." |
Author"I graduated from both ESSEC Business School and ENSAPC Art School in France. As a choreographer, cultural entrepreneur, and community activist, I harness the transformative power of art to build spaces, experiences, and communities. My artistic practice explores new poetic, fragile, and hybrid forms, spanning multiple mediums, including text, image, object, and movement. I create full-length dance pieces, short-format performances, immersive installations, multi-sensory community experiences. Over the past two decades, I've founded the School of Disobedience, established my own performance art company (Gray Box), and launched the annual Performance Now! Festival. I embrace everything unusual, unexpected, and nonconformist. I am not kind with assholes and have learned to forge my own path. I am here to guide you in thinking outside the box and achieving independence. To me, the real party is outside the confines of the established canon." Archives
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