"Vardimon is a powerful voice in physical theatre and the daring movements she creates leave scars on the memory” THE GUARDIAN
"Jasmin Vardimon seems poised to be the next big popular British export" NEW YORK TIMES
A leading force in British dance theatre for twenty years, Jasmin Vardimon has built a reputation for challenging, exciting and visually stunning dance and continues to add to the body of critically acclaimed, artistically respected yet accessible work both for the company she formed in 1998 and for some of the leading arts institutions she works with across the world.
Born and raised on a Kibbutz in central Israel, she was a member of the Kibbutz Dance Company for five years and in 1995 was awarded the prestigious British Council ‘On the Way to London’ Choreography Award. This was to take her on a journey that saw her move to the UK permanently in the late nineties. At the same time she founded Jasmin Vardimon Company (previously Zbang) for which she has created some of her most memorable work. An Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells since 2006, Jasmin has also been recognised with the positions of Associate Artist at The Place in 1998 and at Yorkshire Dance as a Partner from 1999 – 2005.
Enjoying sell-out performances across the UK and internationally, her company’s works include her most recent work, Medusa, a reflection on the powerful feminine symbol of Medusa, the myth and its various connotations in our contemporary life (5 stars ‘Incredibly talented company present another unforgettable, highly entertaining masterpiece’ Broadway World), the 2016 adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s classic fairy tale, Pinocchio (“Simple yet elaborate, stark but magical, Pinocchio is a pretty impressive achievement” – The Times), Freedom (‘Breathtaking, mesmerizing and frequently thought provoking’ – South Wales Echo), 7734 (‘Theatrical gold. Piercingly powerful’ – Daily Telegraph), Yesterday (‘Beautiful. A deft theatrical touch’ – The Observer), Justitia (‘Terrific – stylishly designed, vividly played’ – The Guardian), Park (‘Extraordinary… sexy and beautiful’ – New Statesman), Lullaby (‘Dangerous and beautiful impassioned and remarkable’ – Daily Mail). In 2015 Jasmin Vardimon Company collaborated with The Turner Contemporary in Margate, Ron Arad and artist Guy Bar-Amotz on the critically acclaimed immersive performance Maze (”A sense of magic“ – The Guardian).
In 2018 Jasmin received widespread praise for her choreography on the video for Paloma Faith’s single Loyal. In 2019 her choreography was nominated for Best Choreography at the UK Music Video Awards. Other commissions include choreography for the Royal Opera House (Tannhäuser, 2010 & 2016), Lyric Opera of Chicago (Tannhäuser, 2015) and for ROH2′s OperaShots season with composer Graham Fitkin at the Linbury Studio (Home, 2012). Jasmin has also received commissions with Bitef Theatre Belgrade, Hellenic Dance Athens, CandoCo, WID, Bare Bones, Transitions and curating the Dance Ballads Festival at the Ovalhouse.
In 2013, Jasmin took on the role of Guest Artistic Director for the first year of the newly formed National Youth Dance Company (NYDC), whom she continues to support through her company educational programmes and bespoke opportunities for both current NYDC dancers and its alumni.
She is the recipient of numerous awards including: Arts Council England’s Exceptional Award in partnership with Turner Contemporary (2014), The Kent Culture Awards Canterbury Award (2014), the Dimitrije Parlić Award, Serbia’s most prestigious award for Choreography (2013), the International Theatre Institute (ITI) Award for Excellence in International Dance (2013) and the Jerwood Foundation’s ‘Changing Stages’ Award (2004); the Jerwood Choreography Award (2000), amongst others.
Her company is regularly funded by Arts Council England, and her work for her company has been commissioned by many leading arts institutions and funding bodies around the world, touring nationally and internationally performing at high profile theatres throughout the UK, across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the USA.
Jasmin has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Wolverhampton since 2011. She developed a Higher Education programme for dancers and actors, led by her company as a postgraduate certificate at Royal Holloway University London; in 2012 launched JV2, a full-time Professional Development Diploma programme; and in 2016, JVIntensive programme. In 2014 she received an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2018 she received an honorary fellowship from the Institute Arts Barcelona.
Two books exploring her work have been published to date: Jasmin Vardimon’s Dance Theatre, Movement, Memory and Metaphor (2017) by Libby Worth, published by Routledge and Justitia: Multidisciplinary Readings of the Work of the Jasmin Vardimon Company (2016), edited by Paul Johnson and Sylwia Dobkowska, published by Intellect. Both books add to the educational resources offered by the company.