Georges Appaix was born in 1953 in Marseille and became a keen left-handed football player. At an early age he discovered boredom, daydreams, and Italian popular songs. He graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers and met Madeleine Chiche, Bernard Misrachi and Odile Duboc, who initiated him into the mysteries of improvisation and gesture. In parallel, he learned to play the saxophone but gave that up a few years later, preferring to listen to John Coltrane. He broke into dance, then became a choreographer with the help of other dancers.