Jefta van Dinther (born 4 March 1980 in Utrecht) is a Dutch-Swedish choreographer and dancer.[1] 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, where he studied
modern and
contemporary Dance. He worked as a dancer with various choreographers, including
Mette Ingvartsen, Xavier Le Roy and Ivana Müller.[2] Since 2008 he has been creating his own performances as a choreographer.
In addition to producing his own pieces, van Dinther teaches choreography at various institutions, including
Stockholm University of the Arts, where he was appointed senior lecturer and artistic director of the master program in choreography between 2012 and 2014.[5]
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.[6] Most of van Dinther's performances are produced by himself, but his work has also been commissioned by the Swedish
Cullberg Ballet (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.[7][8] 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[9]
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[10] (for the Swedish Cullberg Ballet)
2012: The Wild Card and Prize of the Youth Jury at Theaterfestival Favoriten,
Dortmund
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.
ISBN978-3-8376-3544-7.
Cvejić, Bojana. Choreographing Problems: Expressive Concepts in European Contemporary Dance and Performance. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
ISBN978-1-137-43739-6.
online