After a stay in New York at the end of the 1970s, where he met Merce Cunningham and discovered the world of post-modern dance (Yvonne Rainer, Lucinda Childs, Trisha Brown, etc.), Jean-Claude Gallotta founded the Groupe Émile Dubois in Grenoble in 1979 - with Mathilde Altaraz. In 1984 it became one of the first national choreographic centres, part of the Maison de la Culture in Grenoble, which he also directed from 1986 to 1988.
Ulysse (1981) brought him international recognition, as far afield as Shizuoka, where he directed a Japanese company from 1997 to 1999. Subsequent productions include Daphnis é Chloé (1982), Hommage à Yves P. (1983), Mammame (1985), Docteur Labus (1988), Presque Don Quichotte (1999), Nosferatu (at the Paris Opera, 2001). Keen to open the doors wide to contemporary dance, he has created a series of works about and with ‘les Gens’, including Trois Générations (2004), and Racheter la mort des gestes (Théâtre de la Ville, 2012), in which he mixes professional dancers with people of all ages, builds and backgrounds.
Over the years, his repertoire of over eighty choreographies has been enriched by the intersection of dance with other arts: film (he has directed two feature-length films himself), video, literature and classical music. In 2015, his Sacre et ses révolutions was presented at the Philharmonie de Paris; in 2016, he created Volver with singer Olivia Ruiz at the Biennale de la danse de Lyon; that same year, his Groupe Émile Dubois became an independent company once again. He is also working on rock figures with the triptych My Rock, My Ladies Rock and the re-creation of L’Homme à tête de chou in 2019 at the Printemps de Bourges festival.
In 2020, he will pay tribute to his first master, Merce Cunningham, with the creation of Day Dreamers, accompanied by musician Rodolphe Burger and visual artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. At the same time, he developed a form adapted to the public space, Climatic’ Danse, as well as its version for children, Danse, ma planète, danse!
In 2021, at the request of Le Volcan, Scène nationale du Havre, he will recreate Ulysse, 40 years after its creation.
In September 2022, he will create Penelope, a feminine and contemporary version of his original Ulysses. Jean-Claude Gallotta and his company are based at the MC2 in Grenoble.