Cofounder of Les Payenkes Utopistes, graduated student of the Academy for Circus and Performance Art (in Tilburg, Netherlands), Samuel Rhyner was born in 1995 in Switzerland. After a quiet childhood during which he cultivated his curiosity and a growing interest in philosophical issues, came the adolescence.

Supported by the friends he made in the youth circus school ArtSceniK, he went through the divorce of his parents and all sorts of common teen problems. After high school, the quest for answers was far from finished, but the moment to make a decision came. What to be, what to become and therefore, what to study ?
 His love for circus had already started a few years before, but his desire to understand and his interest for physics led him to study in the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). During his first year, he realized that physics would only reply to the question « how ? » and not to the question « why ? ». He decided to stop his physic studies and joined the Academy for Circus and Performance Art in 2016.

Interested in movement in general, but thirsty for knowledge, Samuel decided to learn Piano, electronic music composition and Cyr Wheel besides his main discipline : Acrodance.

As if this was not enough, he decided to join a few projects, including La Cie Sea (circus company) with the show « Un grain », La mythe (a collaboration between him and a visual artist : Erwan Demenga), (In)Sane (a dance quartet choreographed by Sarah Prescimone) and a duet with Cal Courtney choreographed by Piet van Dycke.

He also co-created the company Les Payenkes Utopistes with Saphia Loizeau and toured with the show « Bonne Question ! »