Uri Ivgi & Johan Greben / IVGI&GREBEN

Already during their individual dance careers with the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company and the Dutch National Ballet, the Israeli Uri Ivgi and the Dutch Johan Greben each started a successful career as choreographer. After his first piece ‘Isch-Ischa’ Ivgi was repeatedly invited to create for the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company and the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Israel. In 1998 he received the Award for Upcoming Choreographic Talent from the Ministry of Culture in Israel. In 2001/02 Ivgi won the Public Award with his duet ‘Longing’ during the International Competition for Choreographers in Groningen, The Netherlands and the second prize during the Choreographers Competition in Hannover in Germany. Greben received both the Encouragement Prize Choreography from the Amsterdam Foundation for Arts as well as the Wim Barry Perspective Award for his first piece ‘Straks’ for the Dutch National Ballet. In 1996 he won the third prize with his duet ‘610’ during the Choreographers Competition in Gelsenkirchen, DE.

The first collaboration of Ivgi & Greben took place in 2003 with a new version of ‘Carmen’ for the Szeged Contemporary Dance Company in Hungary. ‘Carmen’ was received with great success on several international festivals. Since 2003 they created for Ballett am Rhein, DE; Dansgroep Amsterdam, Introdans, Scapino Ballet NL; It dansa, ES; Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, SKR; Modern Dance Turkey, TR; National Theatre Ballet, Prague Chamber Ballet, CZ; Provincial Dances Theatre, RU; Phoenix Dance Theatre, Scottish Dance Theatre, Scottish Ballet, GB; Skânes Dansteater, Norrdans SE; Ballet Junior de Geneva, Tanzkompanie Theater St. Gallen, Tanzcomagnie Konzert Theater Bern, CH.

In 2011, Ivgi & Greben won The Golden Mask Award in Moscow in the category Best Choreographer-Ballet/Contemporary Dance. They received this most prestigious Russian Theatre Prize for ‘This Is Not A Love Song’, which they created for the Provincial Dances Theatre in Yekaterinburg.

In 2014 and 2015 Ivgi & Greben worked as artistic leaders of the Rozbark Dance and Movement Theatre in Poland. The recreation of their successful production ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ was nominated as best production of the year. To develop audiences for contemporary dance in Poland, they created ‘I Give You My Heart’, a production presented in public spaces, in -and outdoors. They also initiated the festival, Rozbark in Motion combined with a training program for dancers and choreographers. Ivgi & Greben presented the company in Germany, France and The Netherlands.

In 2018 Ivgi & Greben produced the full-evening production We Are In Trouble in The Netherlands with a very successful premiere in the European Capital of Europe Leeuwarden 2018. In 2019 they will be producing their second independent work ‘The Dreamers’ with a planned premier in September 2019.

Ivgi & Greben present their ideas and thoughts through an imaginative body vocabulary combined with poetic images that build and break, and touch and confront. They consider their work to be a mirror for their audience as well as themselves and so invite the audience to search for a personal reflection of reality. Using themes such as oppression, tension between individuals and groups, longing for freedom and love, and sexuality and acceptance, Ivgi & Greben create a visual world blending movement, music, light and costumes into an aesthetic of their own. By breaking boundaries and using intense physicality, their choreography achieves a tapestry representing control, power, strength and endurance interwoven with moments of softness, intimacy and tenderness.