Gilles Jobin (1964)
Works and lives in Geneva
Gilles Jobin starts his career as a performer in several Swiss companies before becoming co-director of the Théâtre de l’Usine in Geneva in 1993. Between 1995 and 1996 in Madrid, he makes his debut as a choreographer with a trilogy, a series of solos about identity: Bloody Mary, Middle Suisse and Only You. In 1997, he moves to London with his companion the Spanish artist, La Ribot.
In 1998, he creates the duo Macrocosm at the Place Theatre in London and becomes a resident choreographer at the Arsenic theatre in Lausanne and an associated artist of Artsadmin in London. Gilles Jobin defines a characteristic style in this period, one that he continually puts into question with forays into the visual arts and live art.
In 1999, he presents A+B=X at the festival Montpellier Danse and creates Braindance that will be presented at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris the following season. From this point onwards, his work is lauded internationally and his radical approach makes of him one of the forerunners of a new generation of European choreographers. He goes on to create The Moebius Strip (2001) that has been presented all over world, and Under Construction, created in 2002 at the Schaubuehne in Berlin.
In 2003, he creates TWO-THOUSAND-AND-THREE for the 22 dancers of the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, a piece that “ transcends both classical and contemporary” (M.C. Vernay - Libération) and Delicado for the Ballet Gulbenkian of Lisbon in 2004. That same year he settles with his family in Geneva.
In 2005, he creates Steak House that will be presented all over Europe and in Brazil.
In 2006, he becomes an associated artist of Bonlieu Scène Nationale in Annecy where he produces Double Deux and then Text to Speech in 2008, a piece that explores new terrain like transitional spaces, information and new technologies. With Black Swan created in 2009 and already performed worldwide, Gilles Jobin risks the childhood and the disturbing strangeness of the improbable.
Apart from his own productions, Gilles Jobin has made of his company and Studio 44, where the company is based, a pioneering space in terms of offering professional training for dancers, fighting for recognition for contemporary dance in Switzerland and stimulating international exchange by means of various initiatives: daily training for dancers, educational activities and consciousness raising, workshops, artistic residencies, projects with countries from the Southern hemisphere.
