Bobbi Jene Smith
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Alternate Names: Bobbi Jean Smith
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Career
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Full Biography
Bobbi Jene Smith is an acclaimed American director, choreographer, and dancer who creates work for both live theatre and film. She is known for her raw, emotional performance language that blends movement and theatre.
An alumnus of The Juilliard School, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Smith danced for the Batsheva Dance Company under Ohad Naharin's artistic direction from 2005 to 2014. Her career transition from company dancer to independent artist was the subject of the 2017 documentary Bobbi Jene, which won three awards at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Since leaving Batsheva, she has choreographed original works for leading companies worldwide, including the Paris Opera Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, the Royal Danish Ballet, and the Los Angeles Dance Project. Smith is also a founding member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC) and frequently collaborates with her partner, Or Schraiber. Her film credits include acting and choreography for Alex Garland's Annihilation (2018) and Boaz Yakin's Aviva (2020), and she has directed her own dance films like Broken Theater. She was an Artist in Residence at the Los Angeles Dance Project from 2022 to 2024 and was awarded the Wilhelm Foundation Award in 2024. Smith is also a certified Gaga teacher, sharing Naharin's movement language globally.
