Brigel Gjoka, Albanian dancer and choreographer, with a career spanning over twenty years, was trained at the Tirana School of Ballet and at the Rosella Hightower in France, He danced between 2006-2010 with, Ballet de l’Opéra National du Rhin, Staatstheater Mainz and the Nederlands Dans Theater.
In January 2011, he joined The Forsythe Company, where he took part in William Forsythe’s new creations and performed in a wide range of works from the American choreographer’s repertoire. In 2016, together with Riley Watts he performed DUO2015 from W. Forsythe in Life In Progress, Sylvie Guillem’s worldwide farewell tour to the stage and received the Leonide Massine Dancer Of The Year Contemporary Stage
Award at Positano Premia la Danza (Italy). In 2016 he performed with the same piece in Paris Quartier D’été and in Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Eighth Annual Anne d’Harnoncourt Symposium.
Brigel’s career was marked in 2018 by his ongoing collaboration over a decade, with master choreographer William Forsythe, where he performed in his last creation, A Quiet Evening of Dance at major venues worldwide, and was awarded FEDORA –Van Cleef & Arpels Prize for Ballet, pushing the boundaries of his own choreographic research and deepening his understanding of Forsythe’s style. Presently he is a tutor at Biennale of Venice 2023 for Biennale College Danza staging DUO (2023 extended) from William Forsythe.
As a choreographer he was commissioned by Sadler’s Wells London and PACT Zollverein Essen, in collaboration with Rauf “RubberLegz” Yasit and co-created NEIGHBOURS premiered in Essen, Germany in 2019. The journey of the duet continued in 2021 where they performed the at Biennale de la Danse de Lyon. Produced by Sadler’s Wells and supported by Van Cleef & Arpels for Dance Reflections Festival London, NEIGHBOURS was developed into a full evening in 2022, featuring the musician Rusan Filiztek. This project was co-produced with, Pôle européen de création – Ministère de la Culture/Maison de la Danse Lyon, Biennale de la danse de Lyon 2021, CNDC Angers, TAP – Théâtre Auditorium de Poitiers, Sydney Dance Festival, La Filature Scène nationale de Mulhouse, Julidans Amsterdam, Théâtre de Liège, MC2: Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, Teatro municipal do Porto, KDF / Kalamata Dance Festival, Torinodanza Festival and ccn de Caen en Normandie. Brigel has been touring worldwide with NEIGHBOURS since 2021 in the most prestigious theaters and dance festivals.
From 2014 to 2020 he served as Artistic Director of Art Factory International Bologna, Italy, designing, leading and developing professional intensive training programs for young dancers, establishing an international art platform to support choreographic research and organizing improvisation and dance workshops with internationally renowned choreographers and artists.
Between 2013-2017 he received support from the Goethe Institute Germany as sponsored choreographer creating Eksod, Among Fog and Hotel Propaganda with NAPA National Academy of Performing Arts Karachi and RECRECiT with Kwang Tung Dance Company in Kuala Lumpur. He has also created SwTH in 2014 for Maggio Fiorentino, Front to Confront with the support of Tonino Lamborghini and Leggere Strutture. Throughout his career, Brigel’s dedication to dance education has been ongoing. He has conducted international dance and choreography workshops at renowned festivals, universities, and companies, such as Tokyo Ballet, Beijing Dance Festival, Royal Danish Summer School, Université De Lausanne, C ND Paris-Lyon, Dias Da Danca Porto, Gibney Dance New York, Sydney Junior Dance Company and much more, sharing his expertise and inspiring dancers around the world to explore their own artistic potential.