History of the site

Located at the very centre of Montpellier, the ICI — National Choreographic Centre of Montpellier is housed in the former Ursulines Convent.

Designed in 1997 by architects Florence Lipsky and Pascal Rollet, this is a place of creation, research and targeted training for contemporary dance, with artistic ambitions which are both national and international.
The effervescent world of dance resides within this atypical architectural ensemble, heir to many decades of history. 
The Agora (the International City of Dance) was created in 2010, under the initial influence of Dominique Bagouet. The final phase of the project included full refurbishment of the buildings, which are today entirely dedicated to dance and all areas of choreography: creation, programme planning, training, audience outreach, artists in residence, accommodation, etc.

 The CCN is the newly created Occitanie region’s only choreographic centre. 

Choreographic Centres were first created in 1984. Today, there are 19 in France. They are the cross-roads between a wide-reaching artistic movement and a cultural policy for spatial planning, between the French government and local authorities. ICI—CCN is the only Choreographic Centre in the newly established region Occitanie/Pyrénées-Méditerranée.

On January 1st 2015 Christian Rizzo took over as the Director of the Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier, which has been renamed ICI (International Choreographic Institute). He supports a crosscutting vision of creation, training, artistic education and openness to the public. Based on various practices and territories, this project is primarily a forward-looking space dealing effectively with inviting artists, creating the choreographic gesture and studying the forms that it can take when shared.