Since her artistic training in France—at CDC Toulouse, CCN Montpellier (ex.e.r.c.e), and in theatre directing at the National Theatre School of Strasbourg—Vilma Pitrinaite (LT/BE) has developed a practice grounded in the belief that movement can articulate political realities and propose alternative ways of being. Identified early on at the Aerowaves festival, she has created several works that demonstrate boldness and imagination: Miss Lithuania pushes language and the body to the point of exhaustion while dismantling the symbolic figure of the beauty queen; Somaholidays translates the choreographic codes and rituals of nightclubs to the stage; and the MATCH trilogy explores competition through grotesque displays of ego and aggression, connecting the social, the animal, and the national.
Originally trained as a gymnast, Pitrinaite began her performance career in Lithuania before expanding her artistic scope through studies in France. She co-founded the collective WE compagnie, which approaches contemporary performance as a radical and subversive act—a means of confronting economic, hierarchical, and patriarchal structures.
Her first project, In Each Man There Are Two Who Dance, remixes a text by Russian dissident author Ivan Vyrypaev with a techno-infused reimagining of Swan Lake. Her second creation, Miss Lithuania, selected for the Aerowaves’15 platform, invites audiences to cheer for a Miss who, like someone claiming power, speaks until language collapses and the body must complete an act resembling sacrifice.
Recent works by WE compagnie—including Somaholidays and the MATCH trilogy—continue this conceptual and radical approach, generating unexpected choreographic material. While Somaholidays examines collective trance in club culture, the three MATCH performances dissect competition through physical escalation, ego, and aggression, with MATCH 3 extending the question of rivalry to artificial intelligence. Match 2, created with Sabina Scarlat (Garage 29/Metarage), coproduced by Brigittines and Charleroi Danse (BE) was presented during the pandemic, and Match 3 (coproduced by the Lithuanian company BE kompanijos) for three dancers received the Golden Cross award in 2024, granted to the best dancer, Oksana Griaznova.
Pitrinaite’s current research focuses on the figure of the rebel, drawing on rap aesthetics and anti-establishment movements (It’s Not Your Dreamm, Golden Cross award for Vilma as best dancer in 2022), and creating ritual-based collective experiences in response to recent events in Eastern Europe, such as the immersive sound-and-movement piece When You’re Alone in Your Forest, Always Remember You’re Not Alone.
Vilma had the opportunity to study with Mathilde Monnier, Lisa Nelson, Frans Poestra, Robert Steijn, Loïc Touzé, Patric Chiha, Stéphane Bouquet, David Wampach, Éléonore Valère, Adolfo Vargas, Isabelle Saule, Mladen Materic, Rita Cioffi, Germana Civera, Carmelo Salazar, Mark Tompkins, Nuno Rebelo, Dalila Khatir, Sophie Perez, and Xavier Boussiron. She also undertook technical training in lighting and sound with Christian Toullec, Pierre Jodlowski, Christophe Ruetsch, and Christophe Loizillon. Finally, she worked with Julie Brochen, Pierre Vial, Krystian Lupa, Pierre Meunier, Alain Françon, Jean-Yves Ruf, and Robert Schuster as part of her studies at the TNS.
She has also choreographed for major companies in Lithuania and performed with Philippe Grandrieux, Cie Diphtong/Hubert Colas, Cie Mossoux-Bonté, Dame de Pic/Cie Karine Ponties, Mauro Pacagnella, Vincent Thomasset, Cie La Zampa, Louise Vanneste, among others.
Aura dance company “Medeas”, “The thief’s journal”, “Somewhere White”, “Aseptic Zone or Lithuanian Songs “, “Mindaugas”, “Extremum Mobile”
