Creative Mind: Dimitri Chamblas
In his wildly innovative career, the choreographer uses dance as a catalyst for even bigger ideas
The strumming of electric guitars by dancers standing on amplifiers contrasted with the complete absence of sound as the troupe moves around the stage—these powerful moments define takemehome, a collaboration between choreographer Dimitri Chamblas and musician Kim Gordon that captivated a New York audience during Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels in late 2023.
For Chamblas, this marked another milestone in his wildly innovative career, which uses dance and choreography as the catalyst for even bigger ideas. Starting at age ten as a dancer at the Paris Opera ballet school, he has since gone on to work with designer Karl Lagerfeld, artist Alex Prager, and choreographer Benjamin Millepied.
Chamblas, who inspires the next generation of creatives as the dean of dance at CalArts, has touched the lives of prisoners in California with his movement classes, as seen in the documentary Dancing in A-Yard, and teamed up with artists such as Claire Tabouret, Xavier Veilhan, and Dan Colen on special performances.
From the beginning: “I first wanted to be an artist and live the artist’s life before I even knew that it would be dance that would offer me that. I now like that dance is my vehicle that takes me on a journey through different practices, meeting other artists, and creating with different disciplines. Dance is the art that invites other arts.”
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Spring Issue under the headline “Creative Minds.” Subscribe to the magazine.