Biography – Mélissa Raymond

Mélissa Raymond is a researcher, artist, and choreographer. She is interested in the sensitive relationships between people and the environment, whether in the field of
urban planning, dance, or the visual arts. As part of her doctoral research supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec, she is exploring the concept of the body-
archive from an ecosomatic perspective. Driven by her interest in the multiple encounters possible between bodies and places, and following an invitation from the Groupe de
recherche interdisciplinaire en arts vivants (GRIAV), she is organizing a study day in 2023 entitled Imaginoir des territaires: praxis and poetics of place in the performing arts.

Since 2009, she has been developing her artistic practice in collaboration with Canadian-Puerto Rican artist René Sandín. Together, they explore choreographic processes
applied to painting and initiate dialogues between colors, abstraction, and territory. Their works have been presented in Montreal, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the United States, and Spain. Their work has received support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. Mélissa Raymond is a graduate of Concordia University’s Department of Contemporary Dance and holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the Université de Montréal. She is a doctoral candidate in arts studies and practices at the Université du Québec à Montréal.