Etienne Béchard was ten years old when he first discovered dance. After dancing for one year, he was awarded a scholarship through which he began a more thorough training with Alexandra Clément and Jean-Gérald Dorseuil. At the age of sixteen, he joined the Ecole-Atelier Rudra Béjart before joining the Béjart Ballet Lausanne two years later. He learned the art of being precise and disciplined that remain with him through his career. Under the encouraging eye of Maurice Béjart, (who gave him several lead roles) he developed his talent as a dancer and choreographer. In 2009, he created the Passager Clandestin duet. Writing choreography became more natural to him and so in 2010, he left the Béjart Ballet Lausanne to fully dedicate himself to his work.
In response to his desire for freedom, he moved to Brussels in 2010 to set up his own company, Opinion Public. Since then, his productions - Opinion Public, Apart/heid, Obsolescence, BOB'Art, Post Anima and Mr. Follower draw their raw material from the neuroses of our times that testify, with at times, poetic and humourous elements, to the challenges of our modern-day world. In 2016, he was invited by the Ballet du Rhin, under the direction of Ivan Cavallari, for his first experience of working with a large company of 30 dancers to produce Cupidon s'en fout.... In 2017, he reran Post Anima with 15 dancers from the Tanz Konzert Theater Bern, under the direction of Estefania Miranda.
In 2018, he was invited to create The Rite of Spring for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, then in 2022 he presented his new creation Carmen to the music of Rodion Chtchedrine.
