Rudi Van der Merwe – dancer

Rudi Van Der Merwe was born and grew up in Calvinia, South Africa. He studied theatre and modern literature at the universities of Stellenbosch and Strasbourg and partook in ex.e.r.ce at the CCN of Montpellier. Since 2004 he has been working as a performer with Gilles Jobin (Steak House, Double Deux, Moebius Strip, Text to Speech), Cindy van Acker, Perrine Valli among others and has collaborated with Ayelen Parolin, Dana Michel, Jòzsef Trefeli, Marie-Caroline Hominal and Béatrice Graf on a variety of multidisciplinary projects. As a choreographer his creations include I’d like to save the world, but I’m too busy saving myself, Trophée and Lovers, Dogs and Rainbows. In 2014, he obtains a diploma in post-production from CADSchool Geneva and in 2015 a postgraduate diploma in cinema from Raindance London. His short film Buzz Riot receives the award for best experimental film at the Cannes Short Film Festival (2018) and at the 17th In the Palace International Short Film Festival (2019). In 2020, he joined Cie Gilles Jobin as an interpreter for the creation of the pieces La Comédie Virtuelle – live show (multiuser VR, 2020-21) and Cosmogony (live mocap, 2021).