© Matthew Placek
Bobbi Jene Smith studied at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School (Canada), the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the Juilliard School (New York). from 2005 to 2014, she danced at the Batsheva Dance Company directed by Ohad Naharin and based in Tel Aviv (Israel). In 2011 and 2012, she worked with Sharon Eyal and her company L-E-V. In 2014, Bobbi Jene Smith left the Batsheva to launch her career as a choreographer, while working as a certified Gaga teacher in various dance schools and universities in the States.
She has choreographed, alone or in collaboration -mainly with her partner Or Schraiber - pieces for the Martha Graham Dance Company, Los Angeles Dance Project, VAIL Dance Festival, CORPUS at the Royal Danish Ballet, Batsheva Dance Company: Arrowed (2010), Harrowing (2015), A Study On Effort (2015, with Keir GoGwilt), Keepsake (2016), Old Horizon (2016), In For (2018), With Care (2018, with Keir GoGwilt), Deo (2018, with Maxime Doyle), Caldera (2019), Lost Mountain (2019), Broken Theater (2020), Solo at Dusk (2020, with Or Schraiber), Ways of Listening (2021), The No One’s Rose (2021), Pierre (2021), Fugue in Crimson (2022, with Or Schraiber), Quartet for Five (2022, with Or Schraiber), MASS (2022), Harawi (2022, with Or Schraiber), Piano Etude No.8 (2022, with Or Schraiber).
Bobbi Jene Smith is also an actress. She is featured in many movies, including: MA (2015) a film by Celia Rowlson-Hall, Yossi (2012) by Eytan Fox, Mari (2018), by Georgia Parris, Annihilation (2018), by Alex Garland, Aviva (2020), by Boaz Yakin. Her work was awarded a “Harkness Promise Award” in 2019.
Since 2017, she has been teaching at the Juilliard School. She is also one of the co-founders of the A.M.O.C. (American Modern Dance Company). In 2017, Elvira Lind made a documentary on Bobbi Jene, relating her departure from the Batsheva Dance Company and the beginning of her career as a choreographer.
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