Gideon Obarzanek is an Australian choreographer, director and performing arts curator. He was Artistic Associate with the Melbourne Festival, co-curator and director of 'XO State' at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts. Obarzanek was appointed Chair of the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2015 and Strategic Cultural Engagement Manager at Chancellery at the University of Melbourne in 2018.
Gideon Obarzanek spent his early childhood in Israel on an agricultural kibbutz. His family returned to Melbourne where he went to the Australian Ballet School, graduating in 1987. He then danced with the Queensland Ballet and later joined the Sydney Dance Company before pursuing a career as a performer and choreographer with various dance companies and independent projects within Australia and abroad. In his early career period he worked with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, Opera Australia and the Netherlands Dance Theatre.
Gideon founded dance company Chunky Move in 1995 and was CEO and Artistic Director until 2012.