Jefta van Dinther (born 4 March 1980 in Utrecht) is a Dutch-Swedish choreographer and dancer. Today van Dinther lives and works in Berlin and Stockholm.

Life and achievements

Van Dinther grew up in the Netherlands and Sweden. From 1999 to 2003 he attended

Amsterdam School of the Arts The Amsterdam University of the Arts ( nl, Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university of arts located in Amsterdam. The university consists of: * Academy of Architecture * Academy of Theatre and Dance * Breitner Aca ...

, where he studied

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

and

contemporary Dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

. He worked as a dancer with various choreographers, including

Mette Ingvartsen Mette Ingvartsen is a Danish dancer, choreographer and performance artist who has been active since the early 2000s. Training Mette Ingvartsen came into contact with the dance world at a very young age; she was a member of the Junior Company led b ...

, Xavier Le Roy and Ivana Müller. Since 2008 he has been creating his own performances as a choreographer. Van Dinther's performances are regularly presented at international venues, such as at Volksbühne, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Komische Oper Berlin, Sadler's Wells in London, Tanzquartier in Vienna,

Internationaal Theater Amsterdam Toneelgroep Amsterdam is the largest repertory company in the Netherlands. Its home base is the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg, a classical 19th century theatre building in the heart of Amsterdam. History The Dutch Company Toneelgroep Amsterdam sta ...

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

and Théâtre national de Chaillot in Paris, as well as at the festivals

Tanz im August Tanz im August (; "Dance in August") is an annual festival for contemporary dance in Berlin. It was founded by Nele Hertling in West Berlin in 1988, and is now presented by the Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) theatre company on various stages in Berlin. ...

in Berlin,

Festival TransAmériques The Festival TransAmériques (FTA) is an annual dance and theater festival held in Montreal, Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Que ...

in Montreal and at ImPulsTanz in Vienna. In addition to producing his own pieces, van Dinther teaches choreography at various institutions, including

Stockholm University of the Arts The Stockholm University of the Arts ( sv, Stockholms konstnärliga högskola) is a public university college created 1 January 2014 by merging the School of Dance and Circus, the University College of Opera, and the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Ar ...

, where he was appointed senior lecturer and artistic director of the master program in choreography between 2012 and 2014. Many of his performances are created in collaboration with lighting designer Minna Tiikkainen and sound designer David Kiers, with whom van Dinther has worked for many years. Most of van Dinther's performances are produced by himself, but his work has also been commissioned by the Swedish

Cullberg Ballet Cullberg Ballet ( sv, Cullbergbaletten) is a Swedish contemporary dance company. It was founded by the modern dancer and pioneer choreographer Birgit Cullberg in 1967, who brought it to fame. After Cullberg's retirement in 1985 the company was un ...

(''Plateau Effect'' in 2013 and ''Protagonist'' in 2016). In 2019 van Dinther remounted ''Plateau Effect'' from 2013 for Berlin State Ballet and it was included into their repertory in Komische Oper Berlin. Between 2019/20 and 2021/22 van Dinther is an associated artist at the company Cullberg.

Works (selection)

* 2008: ''It's in the Air'', collaboration with Mette Ingvartsen * 2009: ''The Way Things Go'' * 2010: ''Kneeding'' * 2011: ''The Blanket Dance'', collaboration with choreographers Frederic Gies and DD Dorvillier * 2011: ''Grind'', collaboration with lighting designer Minna Tiikkainen and sound designer David Kiers * 2012: ''This is Concrete'', collaboration with choreographer Thiago Granato * 2013: ''Plateau Effect'' (for the Swedish Cullberg Ballet) * 2014: ''As It Empties Out'' * 2014: ''Monument'', choreography for the music video by Röyksopp & Robyn * 2016: ''Protagonist'' (for the Swedish Cullberg Ballet) * 2017: ''Dark Field Analysis'' * 2019: ''The Quiet'' * 2019: ''Plateau Effect'' for Berlin State Ballet

Awards (selection)

* 2012: Birgit Cullberg Grant * 2012: ''The Wild Card'' and ''Prize of the Youth Jury'' at Theaterfestival Favoriten,

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

* 2013: ''Swedish Theater Critics Dance Prize'' for ''Plateau Effect''

Literature

* Brandstetter, Gabriele. ''Synchronisierungen von Bewegungen im zeitgenössischen Tanz: Zur Relevanz von somatischen Praktiken in den Arbeiten von Jefta van Dinther.'' In Breyer, Thiemo et al. (eds.). ''Resonanz – Rhythmus – Synchronisierung. Interaktionen in Alltag, Therapie und Kunst.'' Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2017, p. 409–428. . * Cvejić, Bojana. ''Choreographing Problems: Expressive Concepts in European Contemporary Dance and Performance.'' London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
online

References

External links

official website

interview on Vimeo

interview at Centre Pompidou
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinther, Jefta van Living people Modern dancers Contemporary dancers Male dancers Swedish choreographers Dutch choreographers Contemporary dance choreographers Dance teachers 1980 births