Yanaël is a performer and a traveller with a wide interest for the moving body and its adaptation to various contexts. He develops an instant composition work while cultivating interactions with other disciplines : music, video, circus, visual arts, literature.

He started performing at the age of twelve in a theatre company in Montreal, Canada.

He discovered dance at the age of 19 and trained in the academic techniques in France and London while crossing eclectic experiences in the fields of dance, theatre, musicals, opera and performance art.

His search for a deeper entry into the interacting layers of mind and body led him towards the practice of Yoga, Qi Qong, Tai-chi and Vipassana meditation. Contact-improvisation and other somatic approaches allowed him to get closer to the sources of movement. Instant composition became a central interest of his performance work together with site-specific project.

In 2000 he created the structure Compagnie Coulisse to develop multidisciplinary work and facilitate cultural exchange. With this company he directed several projects involving dancers, musicians, light designer, visual artist and landscape designer.

Between 2004 and 2006, he traveled overland between Europe and Asia, working on an itinerant research project around the body intitled Metabolism, body in project. Inspired by this voyage, his solo elsewhere... was presented several times in Turkey and the Balkans.

After several stays in Turkey where he was invited to perform and teach he co-initiated the TRANSIT festival which he directs since 2006.

Yanaël regularly teaches contact-improvisation, dance technique and instant composition to different types of public.