Bobbi Jene Smith (born November 7, 1983) is an American dancer and actress.
She was the subject of Elvira Lind's documentary Bobbi Jene about her decision to leave the prestigious Israeli dance troupe Batsheva to try to choreograph her own pieces in America.
Smith was born in Centerville, Iowa. She attended the dance division at Juilliard but did not graduate, choosing instead to drop out at the age of 21. [1]
At the age of 21 Smith moved to Israel at the advice of Ohad Naharin where she joined the Batsheva Dance Company. She stayed in Israel dancing with Batsheva for 12 years. [2]
In 2012 Smith choreographed the dance piece Arrowed which she performed with actor Oscar Isaac. Isaac's girlfriend Elvira Lind was in the audience and she began a correspondence with Smith, eventually persuading Smith to let Lind film her for a documentary. The resulting film, Bobbi Jene , premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. [3]
Smith made her feature film debut in the 2012 Israeli film Yossi in a small supporting role. She also appeared in Georgia Parris's 2018 dance-drama Mari, where she played the lead role of a woman mourning the loss of her mother. [4]
In 2021, Smith co-starred with Or Schraiber in the accompanying film for the album Green to Gold by American indie rock band the Antlers, which involves the highs and lows of a relationship being portrayed entirely through interpretive dance. [5]
Arrested Development is an American hip hop group, that was formed in Atlanta in 1988. It was founded by Speech and Headliner as a positive, Afrocentric alternative to the gangsta rap popular in the late 1980s. Baba Oje and frontman Speech met at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee when they were both students.
Cassandra Peterson is an American actress and former go-go dancer and showgirl. She is best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ-TV in her stage persona as Elvira, hosting Elvira's Movie Macabre, a weekly B movie presentation. A member of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings, Peterson based her Elvira persona in part on a "Valley girl"-type character she created while a member of the troupe.
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2002 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of Lower Manhattan following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Until 2020, the festival was known as the Tribeca Film Festival.
Ohad Naharin is an Israeli choreographer, contemporary dancer, and creator and teacher of a unique system/language/pedagogy of dance called Gaga. He served as artistic director of Batsheva Dance Company from 1990; he stepped down in 2018.
Tristan Ann Prettyman is an American singer-songwriter from San Diego, California. She was signed to Virgin Records until 2013 and released her first major label album Twentythree on August 2, 2005, followed by her second album Hello...x which was released on April 15, 2008. Her third studio album, Cedar + Gold, was released on October 2, 2012. On October 27, 2014, Prettyman independently released an EP, "Back To Home". She toured throughout the United States with Eric Hutchinson in support of his City and Sand tour during the fall of 2014.
The Batsheva Dance Company is a renowned dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was founded by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild in 1964.
Shalom "Shuli" Rand is an Israeli film actor, writer, and singer. He is a Breslover Hasid and is best known in the English-speaking world for his role as the protagonist in Ushpizin (2004), for which he wrote the screenplay.
Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown was an American reality television personality and singer. She was the only child of singers Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston. Her parents' fame kept Brown in the public eye, as did her appearances on the reality show Being Bobby Brown.
Alma Har'el is an Israeli-American music video and film director. She is best known for her 2019 feature film debut Honey Boy, for which she won a Directors Guild of America Award.
The Film Collaborative (TFC) is the first non-profit, full-service provider dedicated to the distribution of independent film, including narrative features and documentaries. Based in Los Angeles, The Film Collaborative services filmmakers worldwide by providing distribution guidance and support as well as theatrical, film festival and digital distribution of art house, independent and world cinema.
Jemima Kirke is a British-American artist, actress and director.
Madison Elle Beer is an American singer and songwriter. Beer gained substantial media coverage when Justin Bieber posted a link to one of her covers she posted on YouTube. She released her debut single, "Melodies", in 2013.
Mariestella "Maris" Cañedo Racal is a Filipino actress. She came to prominence in 2014 after joining Pinoy Big Brother: All In where she placed second. Aside from being a musician and singer, she also excels in acting.
Step Sisters is a 2018 dance comedy film directed by Charles Stone III. It stars Megalyn Echikunwoke as a black sorority girl who agrees to teach the art of Greek stepping to a house of party-obsessed white sorority sisters.
Shira Haas is an Israeli actress. She initially gained national prominence for her roles in local film and television, winning two Israeli Ophir Awards out of five nominations since 2014. In 2020, she gained international acclaim for her role in the Netflix miniseries Unorthodox. For this performance, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In the same year, Haas won the Tribeca Film Festival Award for Best International Actress for her performance in the Israeli drama film Asia (2020). She has since starred in the Netflix science fiction series Bodies (2023).
Nicole Barclay is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She was a member of the all-female rock group Fanny and has collaborated with Joe Cocker, Barbra Streisand and Keith Moon.
Sarita Khurana is a film director, producer, and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Khurana's films explore South Asian stories from female perspectives. Migration, memory, culture, gender, and sexuality are common themes throughout her work. Khurana was the first Desi woman to win the Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award at Tribeca Film Festival with her collaborator, Smriti Mundhra.
The Letter Room is a 2020 American short comedy-drama film directed by Elvira Lind. In November 2020, it premiered at HollyShorts Film Festival. It was also nominated for Best Short Film at Tribeca Film Festival and the Palm Springs International ShortFest.
Elvira Lind is a Danish film director based in New York City.
Green to Gold is the sixth studio album by American indie rock group the Antlers. It was released on March 26, 2021, by Anti- in the U.S. and Transgressive Records in the U.K. and in Europe. It is the band's first album in seven years, and it marks the departure of multi-instrumentalist Darby Cicci. The album was preceded by the singles "Wheels Roll Home", "It Is What It Is", "Solstice", and "Just One Sec". The album was accompanied by a feature-length film starring dancers Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber.