Yasmeen Godder

Yasmeen Godder was born in 1973 in Jerusalem.

She began studying dance at age three at Hasia Levi-Agron’s Dance Academy, and later with Jacob Lifshitz. In 1984, at age 14, she moved with her family to New York and began studying in the High School of the Performing Arts in New York, where she began to choreograph.

Her first work was inspired by the writings of Jewish author and poet Edmond Jabès. At the same time, she won a scholarship at the Martha Graham School in New York, where she danced every weekend from age 14-17. Upon completing her studies she returned to Israel, served in the IDF and studied at Bat-Dor Studio and Bikurei Haitim Center in Tel Aviv. In 1993 she returned to the US for BFA studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she performed her works for the first time. Among others, she studied with Wally Cardona, Gus Solomons, Tere O’Connor, Cherylyn Lavagnino, as well as with Zvi Gotheiner. In 1997, Godder graduated and on that year she performed at the Gowanus Arts Exchange in Brooklyn and at Duncan Centre in Prague. At the same time, she studied at the Movement Center and was selected as its resident artists for 1999.

In 1999, Godder returned to Israel with her life and creative partner Itzik Giuli, and staged Aleena’s Wall at the Shades of Dance (Gvanim Bemachol) Festival. Consequently, she was commissioned to choreograph I Feel Funny Today (1999) for the Curtain Up (Haramat Masach) Festival, as well as Green Fields (2000) for Batsheva Ensemble, also performed in this festival.
Since 1997, Godder has been active as a freelance choreographer, the artistic director of her own company and Giuli’s partner as a dramaturge. Her works have been performed in Israel and in important festivals worldwide, such as the Lincoln Center Festival in New York, Tokyo International Festival, Enzimi Festival in Rome, Rencontres Chorégraphiques in Paris, Sidney Opera House, The Place Theatre in London, Hebbel Theater in Berlin, Kitchen and DTW Theaters in New York, and Kunsten Arts Festival in Brussels. Her works include: Two Playful Pink (2002), Strawberry Cream and Gunpowder (2004), I’m Mean I Am (2006), Singular Sensation (2008), Lie Like a Lion (2009), Climax (2014). In 2012 Godder choreographed The Toxic Exotic Disappearance Act for Batsheva.

Godder is considered as a creator with a unique idiom in Israeli dance. Many dancers who have participated in her production have become choreographers and her impact on the local scene is clearly evident.
Godder taught in various art schools, including the Jerusalem Music and Dance Academy and Bikurei Haitim in Tel Aviv. In 2007, she opened the Yasmeen Godder Studio at Mendel Culture Center in Jaffa. The center also hosts Search Engine, a school established together with Giuli.
Godder is the recipient of numerous awards, including the New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”) (2001), Ministry of Culture Young Choreographer Award (2001, 2003) and Small Ensemble Award (2003, 2009), Rosenblum Award for Performance Arts (2004, 2009), Landau Prize for Excellence in Arts (2005), Hasia-Levi Agron Choreography Award (1999, 2000), and special prize from the Ballet Master Albert Gauvbier Fund in Denmark (2005). Godder was also selected as an outstanding artist by the Fund for Excellence in Culture from 2004 to 2009.