dancer CHOREOGRAPHER
EDUCATOR
artistic director
Studio Dimitri Chamblas hosts choreographer, artistic director, and educator Dimitri Chamblas’s practice. The studio works on developing projects envisioned to work with institutions around the world and facilitates collaboration between contemporary dance and other artistic fields through experimental pedagogy and social engagement.
MANAGER
Jamil Shamasdin
jamil@jamgmt.com
AGENT
Guillaume de Bary /B.Y.E
guillaumedebary@bye.studio
studio manager
Élodie Vitrano
elodievitrano@gmail.com
The Studio Dimitri Chamblas is subsidized by the Ministry of Culture – Direction Générale de la Création Artistique and the DRAC Occitanie.
about
The Studio hosts choreographer, artistic director, and educator Dimitri Chamblas’s practice, as well as projects with other collaborators .
Dimitri Chamblas’s work examines the body and its representation in various concrete or imaginary contexts. His choreographic work springs from the perception of his immediate environment resulting in the creation of new dance forms and ways of transmitting his art.
His work has been performed in venues such as Tate Modern (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Opéra National de Paris, St Mark’s Church (New York), among others.
Captivated by dance, Dimitri Chamblas joined the Paris Opera’s celebrated dance school at age ten. Along his career, he has collaborated with various creators, most notably, designers as Virginie Viard, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Karl Lagerfeld, composer Heiner Goebbels, singer and conductor Barbara Hannigan, director Rebecca Zlotowski, artists Christian Boltanski, Andy Goldsworthy, Kim Gordon, Alex Prager, Dan Colen, Xavier Veilhan, and choreographers Mathilde Monnier, Benjamin Millpied, Boris Charmatz, William Forsythe, and Lil Buck.
In 1992, Chamblas co-founds EDNA with choreographer Boris Charmatz. During the following years together, they conceive performances, organize events and exhibitions, and publish books. Their duet “À bras-le-corps” has been performed on every continent in world-renowned theaters and festivals. This duet is also part of the Paris National Opera Ballet’s repertory since 2017.
In 1996, he creates with Mathilde Monnier (Director of the Centre chorégraphique national in Montpellier, France at that time) the "research and writing residence”, an opportunity for artists to produce within creative spaces outside of the traditional process.
In 1999 Chamblas funds Same Productions, conceiving and producing advertising campaigns for luxury fashion brands, music videos, and art films. The company directed its projects through offices in Paris, Brussels, and Los Angeles.
Dimitri Chamblas continues to frequently work as artistic director and choreographer for brands such as Chanel, Dom Perignon, Longchamp, and Nike, among others.
In 2013, as artistic director and digital curator, he concieves “Mutant Stage” together with curator and producer Amélie Couillaud: a series of 10 art films all shot in the building designed by OMA / Rem Koolhaas. “Mutant Stage” is envisioned for the french Lafayette Anticipations – Fondation from well known company Galeries Lafayette, a public interest foundation that supports international creators in the fields of contemporary art.
In 2014, Dimitri Chamblas is appointed artistic director of the Paris Opera’s 3rd Stage. In collaboration with Benjamin Millepied, he launches the creative digital platform for which he invites artists such as Alex Prager, Glen Keane, Xavier Veilhan, Bret Easton Ellis, Julien Prévieux, William Forsythe, Rubber Legz, United Visual Artists, Lil Buck, Barbara Hanigan, and Jonas Kaufmann to create original artworks inspired by the Paris Opera.
Consistently curious about technological advances and their possible applications, he creates in 2015, through a partnership with Google Cultural Institute, the first immersive dance film captured in 360°, based on an original dance piece choreographed by Benjamin Millepied.
In 2017, he launches Studio Dimitri Chamblas in Paris and Los Angeles, a structure that hosts the ensemble of his projects and collaborations, including a duet with the étoile dancer Marie-Agnès Gillot, his participation in the creation of Boris Charmatz « 10000 gestes », a creation with architect François Perrin for the Performa Biennale in New York, as well as a duet with artist and musician Kim Gordon.
That same year, he is named California Institute of the Art’s new Dean of Dance and creates HHUMANN, a piece involving 75 dancers which is later presented in the streets of downtown Los Angeles and at the Hauser&Wirth Gallery.
During 2018/19, Dimitri Chamblas creates « Slow Show », a choreography involving 50 performers which today continues to be performed internationally. Among the countries it has been presented in are France, Belgium, Burkina Faso, United States, and Senegal.
During that same period, Chamblas also creates « Los Angeles », a solo done in collaboration with painter Claire Tabouret and dancer Spenser Therberge. This piece goes on to be performed in various venues in Los Angeles including: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Redcat theater, and the MAK Center for Arts and Architecture at the Schindler house.
As part of the Noon to Midnight festival curated by Kate Nordstrum for LA Phil, Chamblas directs "Crowd out" a 1,000-singer opera by David Lang in June 2019 at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
In 2019, he was made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture and since 2021, Studio Dimitri Chamblas is supported by the French Ministry of Culture.
In 2020, Chamblas starts a new project within the Los Angeles State Prison in Lancaster, California. This marks the first time in US history that contemporary dance enters a maximum security male prison. During his time within the prison walls, Chamblas worked with 10 inmates incarcerated for life, resulting in several reviews written in the press and a documentary film (Dancing in A-Yard) being shot.
In 2022, Chamblas creates Water and Power, a piece for Los Angeles Dance Project.
In 2023, he creates takemehome, a piece for 9 dancers in collaboration with Kim Gordon, after 3 residencies in Montpellier, Los Angeles, and Charleroi. Dimitri also continues working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to build a worldwide dance practice program that will take place in various refugee camps around the globe, and continues his academic works in experimental pedagogy.
