Swiss based choreographer Ihsan Rustem was born in London, where he trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance.

In 2020, he co-founded the Swiss dance company Cie. La Ronde with Cathy Marston, which he led until 2025. From 2015 to 2025, he served as Resident Choreographer at NW Dance Project in Portland, Oregon (USA), and has created 15 works for the company since 2010.

With over 60 works to date, Rustem’s choreography has been commissioned by a wide range of leading companies and institutions internationally, including Nederlands Dans Theater 2, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, National Ballet of Chile, São Paulo City Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ballett Zürich, West Australian Ballet and Istanbul State Ballet. He was named one of Nederlands Dans Theater’s Up & Coming Choreographers, won the Sadler’s Wells Global Dance Contest and the Hannover International Choreographers’ Competition Public Prize, and received Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s International Commissioning Project.

From 2000 to 2014, Ihsan danced with Ballet Theater Munich, Introdans, Bern Ballet, Tanz Luzerner Theater, and Adventures in Motion Pictures. He created roles in works by Wayne McGregor, Hofesh Shechter, Alexander Ekman, Matthew Bourne, Stijn Celis, Patrick Delcroix, Cayetano Soto, Felix Landerer, and Cathy Marston, and worked with Mats Ek, Jiří Kylián, Paul Lightfoot & Sol León, Hans van Manen, and William Forsythe, among others. Rustem is the former Director of Ballettschule Luzern and has served on the jury of several prestigious competitions, including the Prix de Lausanne, Concorso Internazionale di Danza Città di Rieti, and the Dance World Cup. Aside from his work as a choreographer, he is also Co-Head of Programming for Switzerland's Steps Festival and is a guest teacher at the Tanz Akademie Zurich. He lives in Zurich, Switzerland. Further info www.instagram.com/ihsanrustem