After starting his career as a dancer in several Swiss companies, Lausanne native Gilles Jobin (born 1964) took over as co-director of the Théâtre de l’Usine in Geneva, which he held from 1993 to 1995 with Yann Marrusich and Anne Rosset. It was during this period that he ventured forth with his own dance creations, producing three pieces in a row under the common banner of Trilogy: Bloody Mary (1995), Middle Suisse and Only You (1996).

Gilles Jobin has been internationally known since his first choreography for three dancers A+B=X created late 1997 at the Théâtre Arsenic in Lausanne. A+B=X was consequently performed at renowned festivals all over the world. In 1988 Gilles Jobin created Macrocosm, a duo with the dancer Nuria de Ulibarri. The première was in January at the Place Theatre in London. That very same year, Gilles focused on the artistic directions he was to take. He wouldn’t allow himself to get narrowed down by established artistic standards. On the contrary, he decided to include the visual arts, live art and performance in his choreography, as could be seen in his project Blinded by Love with the radical British performer Franko B., which was performed as a work in progress. He surprised again recently by accepting a commission for a piece with the ballet dancers of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, a piece that, as Marie-Christine Vernay from the newspaper Liberation put it, “... transcends the Classical and the Contemporary”.

In August 1999, Gilles Jobin creates Braindance, a piece for five dancers whose first performance took place at the FAR in Nyon. Both the press and the public praised his work highly, which ranked him amongst the top creators of his generation. His radical artistic directions and his international recognition made him the precursor of a new generation of choreographers. He thus became a model and the spokesman for a generation of independent young Swiss artists.

Another quintet followed, The Moebius Strip, whose first performance was held at the Théâtre de la Ville (les Abesses) in Paris in May 2001. Gilles Jobin then produced Under Construction, a piece for seven dancers, which premièred at the Schaubühne, Berlin, on September 7th 2002, during the Berliner Festwochen. The festival co-produced along with the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, the Venice Biennale and the Théâtre Arsenic in Lausanne. In 2003, The Moebius Strip and Under Construction were on tour with performances given in Europe, South America and South Africa to name but a few places. In September 2003, Gilles Jobin created TWO- THOUSAND-AND-THREE for twenty-one dancers from the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. The World première was held on September 10th at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva during the Festival de la Bâtie. TWO-THOUSAND-AND-THREE is currently on tour in Europe and was performed, amongst many other locations, at the Montpellier Danse Festival, the Paris Quartier D’été Festival in July 2004 and the Biennale de Lyon.

That same year he created Delicado, a choreography for twelve female dancers from the Gulbekian Ballet. The première was held on January 21st in Lisbon. In March 2005, he creates Steak House, piece for 6 dancers. The premiere took place at Théâtre Arsenic in Lausanne. The piece is still on international tour after numerous representations in, among others, Italy, France, Poland and Portugal.

In September 1999 Gilles Jobin was awarded the “ZKB Prize” by the Zürcher Theater Spektakel ; and in May 2000 he was amongst the award winners of the « Prix de la Fondation Vaudoise pour la promotion de la création artistique ». In 2001 he was the first Swiss choreographer to get the “Nouveau Talent Chorégraphique” Prize awarded every year by the board of the SACD (Société des Auteurs et des Compositeurs Dramatiques, Paris/ Bruxelles/ Montréal). That very same year, the Canton of Vaud Cultural Office gave him a three-year grant which was renewed in 2004 (2004-2006). In December 2004 he was awarded a Culture Leenaards 2004 Prize for his Work. Gilles Jobin has been a resident choreographer at the Théâtre Arsenic in Lausanne since he started out.

Furthermore, films and documentaries about Gilles Jobin’s work have been and are shown in many film festivals (The Moebius Strip, Braindance directed by Vincent Pluss ; Le Voyage de Moebius directed by Luc Peter). In December 2002 during the International Dance Film and Video Festival held in Monaco, Dance Screen 2002, the film The Moebius Strip by Vincent Pluss got the Best Camera Re-Work award. It also got the First Prize at the Cinema d’Arte di Bergamo Festival and was nominated at the 2004 On Camera Festival, which was held at the Lincoln Center in New York.

In 2002, Pro Helvetia published a book, in the “Artists’ books” series, on Gilles Jobin’s artistic achievements.

Gilles Jobin is an associated artist of Bonlieu - Scène Nationale d’Annecy and of Artsadmin, London.

Piece for Ballet Junior
Delicado , restaged for June 2006

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