Arkadi Zaides

Arkadi Zaides is an independent choreographer. Born in 1979 in ּBelorussia, former USSR, he immigrated to Israel in 1990 and currently lives in France.

Zaides' work examines the ways in which political and social contexts effect the physical body and constitute choreography. His practice aims to challenge and inspire viewers. It offers an inclusive realm that brings together diverse communities and sectors of society. His works were presented among the following countries: France (Theater National De Chaillot, CDC Toulouse, KLAP), Germany (Fabrik Potsdam, Pact Zollverein, Weimar Nationaltheater), The Netherlands (Korzo, Bellevue, Stadsschouwburg Rotterdam), Switzerland (Tanzhaus Zürich), Canada (Firehall Arts Center, MAI), USA (LaMaMa, NYLA), Chile (FIT), Japan (Aoyama Round Theater, Dance Box, Session House), The Czech Republic (4+4 Days in Motion), Poland (Arts Station Foundation, Impart Art Center), Italy (Santarcangelo Theater Festival), Greece (Onassis Foundation), Spain (Mes De Danza, BAD Bilbao), and China (Shanghai Dance Festival).

Zaides received the Emile Zola Prize for Performing Arts for demonstrating engagement in human rights issues in his work Archive (2013). His work Quiet received a grant from the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport (2013). He was the recipient of the Israeli Lottery Foundation Landau Award (2012). He won the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport Young Artist Prize (2008, 2009, 2011). He received the annual Rosenblum Award for excellence in the arts (2010), and his work Solo Colores received the Kurt Jooss Award (2010).

Zaides continuously develops platforms to promote contemporary discourse of performance making. Together with dramaturge and researcher Sandra Noeth, he initiated Violence of Inscriptions. The project brings together artists, thinkers, and human-rights activists to negotiate the role of the body in producing, maintaining, legitimizing, representing, and aestheticizing structural violence (2016). Zadies curated Moves Without Borders, a close collaboration with Goethe Institute Israel. The project invited avant-garde choreographers to conduct performances and workshops in Israel (2012-2015). Together with choreographer Anat Danieli, Zaides curated the New Dance Project in Jerusalem. The project provided novice choreographers with professional guidance, production assistant, and financial support (2010-2011).