Laura Cappelle

Laura Cappelle is a French arts sociologist, dance scholar and critic. An associate professor at Sorbonne Nouvelle University, she is the editor of a French-language introduction to western dance history, Nouvelle Histoire de la danse en Occident (Seuil, 2020), and co-authored its adaptation into a graphic novel (Une histoire dessinée de la danse, with Thomas Gilbert, Seuil, 2024). Both projects received national recognition, including Best Dance Book awards from the French Critics’ Union (2021 and 2025) and a Special Jury Prize from the comics festival Bédéciné.

She is also the author of Créer des ballets au XXIe siècle (CNRS Éditions, 2024), a sociological investigation into the creative process of ballet choreographers, and co-edited a volume on decentering dance history (Chorégraphier l'égalité culturelle. Pour une histoire décentrée de la danse, vol. 2, with Elizabeth Claire and Mariem Guellouz, L’Harmattan, 2024). Since 2022, she has been an associate researcher with the CCN-Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin in France.

As a dance and theatre critic, Laura Cappelle has been a regular contributor to the Financial Times since 2010 and to the New York Times since 2017, and has written for the Guardian, Dancing Times and Dance Magazine. She is also an editorial consultant for CN D Magazine.