Down: to sink, to let go, to surrender. Challenging everyday conventions, in DOWN (single version), dancer Mélissa Guex and drummer Clément Grin venture together into a state of instability, where everything influences, involves or precipitates. Surrounded by the audience, they share an explosive, unreasonable, generous and insatiable dance — a collective groove in the depths — which from the opening day of Short Theatre 2026 at the Orto Botanico di Roma will spiral to the Pelanda del Mattatoio di Roma for a second encounter.
Mélissa Guex is a dancer, performer, and choreographer. She began her artistic journey in Brussels, where she studied performance, before earning her bachelor’s degree in contemporary dance at La Manufacture in Lausanne. As an associate artist at Théâtre Sévelin in Lausanne for four years, she created several short pieces, including the solo De ceux – Episode (an improvisation format) and her first solo Sous sol. She has also collaborated with renowned choreographers such as Géraldine Chollet, Anna-Marija Adomaitytė for her piece Pas de deux, Augustin Rebetez, and Katerina Andreou for her first group piece, Bless this mess. In 2023, her second creation, Rapunzel, was presented at the Swiss Dance Days in Zurich. Currently, Mélissa is touring with her duo DOWN, which she developed in collaboration with drummer Clément Grin. This project is supported and accompanied by Théâtre de Vidy and tours internationally.
concept, direction and performance Mélissa Guex
musical creation and performance Clément Grin
production and diffusion Amandine Bula
administration Salve production
technical director Vincent Scalbert
Mélissa Guex is present at ST26 with the support of the Istituto Svizzero
ph. Pauline Humbert