CERN welcomes its first choreographer in residence: Gilles Jobin, Switzerland!

[Marlon Barrios Solano]

Geneva, 14 May 2012.

Space, time and gravity are under the cultural spotlight at CERN this month with the arrival of Gilles Jobin, the laboratory's first choreographer in residence and winner of the Collide@CERN Geneva prize, which is supported by the Canton and City of Geneva. Jobin is an internationally renowned Swiss choreographer with a company in Geneva. His CERN inspiration partner for his three-month residency at the laboratory will be the multi-media producer and visualisation specialist, João Pequenão, who studied physics at the University of Lisbon.
 
To mark the occasion, Gilles Jobin et João Pequenão will give a public presentation in CERN’s Globe of Science and Innovation on Wednesday 23 May about movement in dance and particle physics. Doors open at 18:30 with a prompt 19:00 start.
 
“It will be fascinating to see how Gilles Jobin explores particle physics through dance and movement following creative dialogues with CERN scientists and science,” said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer.
 
The Collide@CERN Geneva prize is the second strand in the Collide@CERN Artists Residency programme launched by CERN in 2011. Jobin was given the award by a jury for his proposal to explore through dance the relationship between mind and body at the world's largest particle physics laboratory.
 
“The opportunity to be in contact with what is the largest scientific experiment in the world in my own city is extraordinarily fascinating as well as intellectually challenging,” said Jobin. “Passion is what we share and a choreographer deals with time and space while CERN scientists deal with movement and space at sub atomic levels. Conceptually, for a choreographer to realize that gravity, the major force I am dealing with every day, is the weakest of the four fundamental forces of nature is mind blowing.”
 
At the 23 May presentation, Jobin and Pequenão will make individual presentations of their work and then discuss the potential of their forthcoming creative collisions at CERN. CERN’s cultural specialist, Ariane Koek will chair the discussion and take questions from the audience.
 
“Both Gilles and João have cross over connections which is what makes their partnership so exciting,” said Koek. “They are both experts in the visualisation of abstract ideas through movement – Gilles does this through dance, João does this through multimedia representations of the complexity of particle physics.”
 
During the residency, the public will be able to follow and comment on the experience and interchanges on a blog accessed through the Arts@CERN website featuring their exchanges. During his residency, Jobin will appear at the City of Geneva's Nuit de la Science on 7 and 8 July, and give a final lecture after the end of his residency in October.
 
Members of the public, including CERN personnel, who wish to attend should register their requests for seats with

[e-mail].

Further information:Collide@CERN website

Gilles Jobin (CH) is the winner of the first Collide@CERN Geneva residency award. With an international reputation as a choreographer, early works A + B=X (1997) and The Moebius Strip (2000) were hailed as contemporary dance masterpieces. Apart from his own dance productions, which include the recently acclaimed Spider Galaxies, Gilles Jobin has made his company and Studio 44 a pioneering place, offering professional training for dancers and stimulating international exchange by means of various initiatives.

João Pequenão (Portugal) is a specialist in scientific visualization. He studied physics at the University of Lisbon, becoming increasingly interested in the multi-media possibilities and potential of communicating the science of particle physics through imaginative and digital means.

Gilles Jobin is a dance-tech.net member and a close collaborator since 2009.

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