In the world of live performance, the work of artists, directors, and orchestras would not carry the same meaning without the work of the set designer. Camille Dugas is a set designer for theater, opera, and ballet; she has chosen to dress spaces with studied delicacy, making colors vibrate, optimizing volumes, and playing with light without ever overloading anything.
Trained at the Sorbonne Nouvelle and the École supérieure des arts et techniques (ESAT), from which she graduated top of her class, she began her career in the design office of the Palais Garnier. There she learned technical rigor and architectural precision. She then joined set designer Chantal Thomas, becoming her assistant on major international productions. Don Pasquale et La Traviata in Santa Fe, Robert the Devil in London, Les Contes d'Hoffmann in Barcelona, The Puritans Paris.
Today, Camille Dugas's name is featured in the most prestigious programs. With Laurent Pelly, she designs The Bald Soprano, The Green Bird, Count OryFor the show The Damnation of Faust, she supports the project of director Alvis Hermanis. The set designer works with various dancers, taking into account their specific characteristics: the fluid movements of Benjamin Millepied, the poetry of Martin Chaix, the energy of Marion Motin, the rigor of Justin Peck. Camille also enjoys collaborating with artists from other fields, particularly art and fashion: Daniel Buren, Christian Lacroix, John Baldessari.
Camille Dugas's unique style is revealed in her sensitivity to storytelling and minimalism. But mère l'Oye (Maurice Ravel, choreography by Martin Chaix), she imagines a deep, dark universe from which luminous origami emerge, floating like clouds. In perpetual motion, they form living tableaux. The minimalist scenography imposes a return to the essential: the dancer, the human being, the body, movement.
In Appassionata (Beethoven, choreography by Benjamin Millepied), extreme simplicity reigns: an ochre-red wall, three immense doors, three couples of dancers. The lighting does the rest. An economy of means for maximum intensity, reflecting the music itself, ardent, heart-rending.
In his work for The Last Call (Choreography by Marion Motin), the stage becomes witness to a gripping drama. The story of a phone call that changes a life forever. Here, there's nothing flashy: a discreet, almost invisible set that accompanies the narrative like a breath. This is Camille Dugas's strength: knowing how to complement the stage action without obscuring it. A return to the essential, far from ostentation and closer to emotion.
Her poetry is also political. In 2022, she published the Manifesto of eco-scenography In the performing arts, a text translated into several languages explores the ecological responsibility of the performing arts. How can we create a set without depleting resources? How can we reuse materials, invent new processes, and raise awareness among the public and institutions?
In 2023, Camille was among the winners of the L'Éloge cultural prize for her set design in Lakmé, A play starring Sabine Devieilhe, directed by Laurent Pelly. The year 2026 looks promising: the set designer is currently working on the set for a ballet entitled Le The Little Prince. This show will be performed at the Palais Garnier from April 15, 2026.
In Camille Dugas's art, there is never excess, simply the precise choice of color and nuance of light accompanying a clean and minimalist space. Camille is a poet, her scene delicate: she offers all the light to the artists who grace it.
