Thibout was born in 1907 in
Liège,
Wallonia, Belgium. She studied and learned dance in her hometown. Thibout performed as a folk dancer. In the 1930s, she gave classes in "bodily expression" and
rhythm. She visited villages in the
Ardennes region to collect folk music and dances from village elders, including
allemandes,
arèdje fr],
maclotes fr] (dances that
sailors performed on boats for entertainment),
mazurkas,
quadrilles,
passepieds,
polkas and
polonaises. This led to the formation of her own dance company in 1936, to showcase traditional dances from the region and to organise folklore galas, in collaboration with an
a cappella choir. In 1950, she gave a solo recital at
Les Archives Internationales de la Danse in
Paris, France. Thibout was a member of the Walloon section of the Royal Belgian Folklore Commission and was an founding member of the
nongovernmental organization (NGO)
International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts (CIOFF
®). Thibout died in 1998, aged 91. In 2006, the book
Fanny Thibout... Son folklore... Ses amis (Fanny Thibout... Her Folklore... Her Friends) by Joseph Bonfond was published. == References ==