“Cathy and I share many parallels in life, both professionally and privately. We are two artists who are driven by the joy of creating and sharing our work. When the pandemic hit and we were forced to sit and reflect, Cie. La Ronde seemed like the most logical solution we could find to not only continue our craft, but to enrich this by sharing our experiences with a collective vision. This journey with fellow colleagues has been a wonderful opportunity to feel a sense of ‘togetherness’ during this current climate of separation. Cie. La Ronde will hopefully be a wonderful addition to the dance scene in our adopted home of Switzerland” Ihsan Rustem
Ihsan Rustem
Artistic Director / Choreographer
Choreographer Ihsan Rustem was born in London, where he trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance.
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Ihsan is the Resident Choreographer for the NW Dance Project in Portland, Oregon USA, where he has created nine works the company. Further collaborations include the Nederlands Dans Theater 2, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Ballet Moscow. National Ballet of Chile, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago 2, Istanbul State Ballet MDT, Tanz Luzerner Theater, Tanzcompagnie Konzert Theater Bern, Whim W'Him Seattle, Ballett Augsburg, Tanzcompanie Theater St Gallen, Thüringer Staatsballett, Staatstheater Braunschweig Tanztheater, Kazan State Opera and Ballet, Koblenz Ballet, Ballet Regensburg, Würzburg Ballet, Siberian State Ballet, Salt Contemporary Dance USA, Arts Umbrella Dance Company Vancouver, National Youth Dance Company, Palucca Hochschule Dresden, The Rambert School, Codarts and ZHdK. He was a featured choreographer for Russia's popular TV show 'The Bolshoi Ballet'.
Nederlands Dans Theater named Ihsan as one of their Up & Coming Choreographers for the 2018/19 season. In 2021, he joined the Jury of the prestigious Prix de Lausanne.
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His work for the NW Dance Project has been recognised with numerous accolades. State of Matter won the 2012 Sadler’s Wells Global Dance Contest as well as the Public Prize at the 25th International Competition for Choreographers Hannover, and Carmen received Dance Magazine's 2017 Readers' Choice Award for Best Collaboration. Rustem was also the 2014 recipient of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's International Commissioning Project.
From 2000-2014 Ihsan Rustem was a dancer with the Ballet Theater Munich, Introdans, Bern Ballet, Tanz Luzerner Theater and Adventures in Motion Pictures. He originated roles in creations by Wayne McGregor, Hofesh Shechter, Alexander Ekman, Matthew Bourne, Stijn Celis, Patrick Delcroix, Cayetano Soto, Felix Landerer, Cathy Marston and worked with choreographers Mats Ek, Jiri Kylián, Paul Lightfoot / Sol Leon, Hans van Manen and William Forsythe, amongst others.
He is the former Artistic Director of the Dance Art Studio Ballettschule Luzern.
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Ihsan lives in Zurich, Switzerland.