Inbal Pinto

First steps
Israeli choreographer Inbal Pinto (Naharia, 1969) grew up in Tel Aviv and started taking dance lessons at the age of thirteen. She initially studied graphic design at the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, but gradually shifted her focus to dance. During this period she created her first choreography, Dov Hoz, a work that drew the attention of Israel’s most famous choreography, Ohad Naharin. At his invitation, Pinto joined the Batsheva Ensemble and later became a member of the Batsheva Dance Company. 

Dance, imagination and whimsy
Since 1992, Pinto has led her own successful dance company. Between 2002 and 2018, she worked together with her then-partner Avshalom Pollak, and during this period the company was known as the Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak Dance Company. The productions move  between dance, mime, theatre, cabaret, circus acrobatics, fairy tales, and vaudeville, and are often praised for their surreal character and absurd humor. One striking example is What Good Would The Moon Be. Inspired by the way their son Louie plays with cardboard boxes, the work takes the audience on an amazing journey featuring lots of attractive dance with elements of slapstick. One reviewer wrote that the piece lets you “fly while sitting on your chair.” 

Another good example of Pinto’s work is Boulevard of Broken Dreams, a new version of her widely praised Fugue. Reflecting on past lives, bygone worlds, lost loved ones, and memories that resonate like a distant inner voice, Pinto paints a spectrum of colours and feelings in this melancholy yet warm choreography. Humor, in subtle form, is always part of her work, but her unique and quirky creations are above all poetic and often mysterious. For all her productions, Pinto also designs the costumes and decor, bringing her imaginative vision to every detail. 

Bessie Award
The first work Pinto made for her own company, Dio-Can, won the second prize at the Shades of Dance Competition and led to a European tour. In 1997 Pinto created the hugely successful choreography Wrapped, for which she received a prestigious American Bessie Award in 2000.  

Choreographies by Inbal Pinto in the repertoire of Introdans: 
Wrapped (2005 duet, 2008 extended version, 2021 integral version), What Good Would The Moon Be (2016), Rushes (2018), Boulevard of Broken Dreams (2024), Salty Pink (2026 fragment).