Biographies

Benoit Swan Pouffer
Artistic Director, Rambert
Benoit Swan Pouffer is the Artistic Director of Rambert and an internationally renowned dance artist and company leader. Born and trained in Paris, he moved to New York where he spent seven years as a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He went on to become the Artistic Director of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, a post he held for 10 years. His tenure at the helm of the company was described by the New York Times as “a New York success story”, gaining wide acclaim for introducing a new generation of international choreographers to US audiences, being the first there to commission work from artists including Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Alexander Ekman, Crystal Pite and Hofesh Shechter. As a choreographer Benoit has made dance for companies around the world including Ailey2 and Rambert’s early career ensemble Rambert2, feature films, music videos, and Broadway shows. He directed Note To Self for Rambert, the last of a 2021 series of innovative livestreamed dance works performed, filmed and broadcast in real time on Rambert Home Studio to fans around the world. Alongside directing and choreographing Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby and the upcoming production of It’s a Sin for Rambert, Benoit was the movement director for Max Webster’s Henry V at the Donmar Warehouse. His ability to blend artistically stimulating content with commercially popular work has led to critical acclaim.

Emma Evelein
Emma Evelein is a Dutch choreographer and director. After her studies at the Amsterdam School of the Arts (2008-2015) and her company life as a dancer, Emma focused on creating for theatre and film and quickly grew into an international film and theatre choreographer and director. She received a number of international awards in recognition for her works Sisters, A flood remains, Wolves, Fiftyone/fourtynine and Lucid dreaming. Recent works include: Train to Pluton, Moonlight innocence and Kyoto for companies such as National Theater Mannheim and MIR Dance (Germany). In 2023 Emma won a Gouden Kalf (Dutch Academy Award) for her work as a director and screenwriter for Lucid dreaming and in 2022 a partnership award with Nederlands Dance Theater. Emma has taught master classes in over 20 countries, next to coaching up-and-coming talent in collaboration with organisations like World of Dance (Europe) and Equilibrio Dinamico (Italy). Gallery of Consequence was commissioned by Rambert in 2024 and marks her first creation for the UK stage.

(LA)HORDE
Founded in 2013, the collective (LA)HORDE is made up of three multidisciplinary artists: Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel. Their dance practice unfolds across choreographic works, films, performances and installations. From the very beginning, (LA)HORDE has worked with communities on the margins of mainstream culture – the septuagenarians of Void Island (2014), the visually impaired participants of Night Owl (2016), the jumpers of To Da Bone (2017), and the Georgian dancers of Ballet Iveroni in Marry Me In Bassiani (2019) – exploring the political dimensions of dance and mapping choreographic forms of uprising, both collective and solitary. Since 2019, they have directed the CCN Ballet national de Marseille, where they have created large-scale works such as Room With A View (2020) and Age of Content (2023). Alongside these productions, they curate mixed programmes and develop expanded performative formats like We Should Have Never Walked on the Moon. Their practice is grounded in a transdisciplinary approach that brings together choreography, visual arts, and cinema. Their works have been presented at major institutions including MoMA, the Palais de Chaillot, and the Southbank Centre, and are widely shown internationally. In 2025, Deep Stream, created in collaboration with the Musée du Louvre, extended their exploration of performance within major institutions. At the same time, (LA)HORDE collaborates with leading figures in film and music, including Spike Jonze, Madonna, Rosalía, and Angèle.

Bobbi Jene Smith
Bobbi Jene Smith is from Ames, Iowa. She is an alumnus of the Juilliard School, North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. From 2005-2014, she was a member of the Batsheva Dance Company under the artistic direction of Ohad Naharin. In collaboration with Or Schraiber, she has choreographed original works for the Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Martha Graham Dance Company, Ballet BC, Los Angeles Dance Project, the Batsheva Ensemble, Theater Basel, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Ballet 19 BC, and others. With Or Schraiber, she made her Off-Broadway debut in 2023, choreographing Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York City. She is a founding member of the American Modern Opera Company.

Or Schraiber
Or Schraiber is a dancer, choreographer, actor, and filmmaker. He began with folk dance, which led him deeper into the practice of movement and, eventually, to the Batsheva Dance Company. He has choreographed for Paris Opera Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Royal Danish Ballet, Gothenburg Opera, Ballet BC, Batsheva Ensemble, and L.A. Dance Project. He co-choreographed the Off-Broadway production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at the Lucille Lortel Theater. His film work includes Aviva (2019), The Way of the Wind (2025), and The Bride! (2026). A founding member of The Broken Theater and AMOC*, he also directs films and music videos.