"Je porte les traces de la vie"

On a warm afternoon, we meet Jill Crovisier in the courtyard of the Rotondes, where she currently resides. She has just come from a rehearsal and seems both focussed and open. In her rucksack: a cat mask, which she later puts on for the photos – a prop from one of her plays. Despite her busy schedule, she makes plenty of time for us. It quickly becomes clear that when she speaks, she does so with great passion – and in great detail.

Jill Crovisier was born in Dudelange in 1987 and grew up in Rumelange. Her mother is half-Italian, half-Luxembourgish, her father French. She has two brothers. When she talks about her childhood, it is noticeable that dance did not begin as a key experience for her. It was just there. "We always had dance at home. My mum was very interested in dance, in different cultures, in music. We had music from all over the world playing at home and often danced in the living room. This openness towards other cultures and forms of expression was part of my life from the very beginning."

As a child, Jill was initially more focused on sports. She swam a lot, liked to exercise and was extremely active. It wasn't until she was seven or eight that she attended the Conservatory in Esch, and at some point this playful joy turned serious. "I realised relatively early on that dance is a language that connects me with people and their stories." This realisation has remained central to her entire artistic work.