Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company “The dancers can’t help but smile,”
writes The New Yorker. With a large repertory noted for its
entertaining flair, stylistic diversity, musicality, innovation and
accessibility neither can the audiences. Blending virtuosic
precision with pedestrian ease, the infectiously appealing dancers are
renowned for their charisma. “A troupe I’d follow anywhere,” says
The Village Voice. A nonprofit performing and teaching
organization, the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company’s educational
programming allows anyone to join in the dance. Hard to
categorize. Easy to enjoy. Since 1998. *Daniel was
internationally applauded for years as a dancer touring with Garth
Fagan Dance and Mark Morris Dance Group. “With an eye for beauty and an
exacting attention to detail, Daniel Gwirtzman takes good care of his
audience and his performers. His ideal of beauty is kind to the
body: His choreography celebrates the long lines and musculature
of dancers’ bodies. The dancers are flawless and picture perfect
too.” - Julia Holland, Show
Business “Mr. Gwirtzman does know that
in dance less can be more. And that’s a good thing for any
choreographer to know. He can evoke strong feelings with a few
gestures.” Touring Programs For
touring Daniel Gwirtzman Dance
Company highlights three programs from its large diverse repertory: an
acclaimed full ensemble program-length hit show; a unique and
accessible evening-length solo show with live music; and the chamber
size “Greatest Hits” program, comprised of audience favorites.
www.GwirtzmanDance.org
- Jack Anderson, The New York Times
Tours with 11 dancers, 1 actor --- 12 performers total
Running time: 75 minutes without intermission.
A signature work of the Company, Encore lives at the intersection of
concert dance and contemporary musical theater and is
audience-proof. With an infectious score of classic jazz
recordings, Encore's exuberant cast entertains the audience in humorous
fashion under the conceit that the audience is observing a final dress
rehearsal. Encore is thus a show about a show, the ultimate
reality show, giving audiences a peek behind the curtain. The
choreography is joyful, fast, rhythmic, innovative and diverse, a
wealth of pure, red-hot, dynamic dance. Audiences tap their feet
during the show and hum as they leave the theater.
Encore is both the title of
Gwirtzman’s new dance suite and the response it’s likely to
inspire. The name refers to the repetitions of rehearsal, as a
fictional troupe of Broadway dancers prepares to go on the road, but
there’s little tedium in Gwirtzman’s choreography, set to classic jazz
recordings. Executing his tricky syncopations and intricate
patterns at breakneck tempos, the dancers can’t help but smile.
Brian Seibert, The New Yorker
No matter how many dark pieces
Daniel Gwirtzman has turned out since starting to choreograph in 1995,
he’s clearly a not-so-secret jazz baby who’s also a fan of Broadway…I’m
a pushover for dancers who can play themselves in unaffected ways—as
these do extremely well. Gwirtzman gets under the skin of the
music he loves—blending casualness and precision…It’s great to see
imaginative dancing to music like this. Deborah Jowitt, The
Village Voice
I found myself grinning from
one of the piece to the other. Gwirtzman has made a spring fling,
showing us the underside of the dancer’s world, letting us feel the
sensuality of the studio and glory in the music of the first half of
the 20th century. Elizabeth Zimmer, Gay City News
The Daniel Gwirtzman Dance
Company pulled out all the stops with its performance of Encore, a
riotous new full-evening piece of razzle-dazzle entertainment.
Lisa Jo Sagolla, Back Stage
The Lecture
Tours with 1 dancer, 1 composer/musician --- 2 performers total
Running time: 50-60 minutes without an intermission.
Choreographed and performed by Daniel Gwirtzman, The Lecture mixes the
serious with the comic, the existential with the everyday. Set to a
score of pre-recorded lectures by university professors, Gwirtzman
marries the intellectual and the physical to explore a variety of
subjects including the science of happiness, the nature of abstraction
and dreams. Joined by Philadelphia-based composer/musician and
longtime collaborator Jeff Story.
Mr. Gwirtzman has created a
work that is amusingly described in press materials as “a 50-minute
solo for the dancer who has been with him the longest ... himself.”
Called “The Lecture,” it is set to a score of recorded lectures on
mathematics, human evolution, the history of language and the like. It
should be fun to see what Mr. Gwirtzman, a lanky, supple mover with a
nicely ironic sensibility, does with that. Roslyn Sulcas, The New York
Times
Greatest Hits
Tours with 6 dancers --- 6 performers total
Running time: between 60-80 minutes. Performed with an
intermission.
A mixed chamber presentation highlights six Company dancers and
provides a mix of repertory including Timebomb,
Tribe, Cycles, Coupling, Puzzle, Obsession, Mapping, Race and
excerpts from Encore.
Timebomb
Gradually building up from a
solo into a quartet, “Timebomb” doesn’t explode all at once. Instead,
eyeing each other warily as they work in the round, negotiating
handholds and counterbalances in fraught encounters, the dancers
suggest participants in the kind of complex schoolyard game that can
turn brutal in an instant. A drum-heavy score helps sustain the
tension, but it’s mostly Gwirtzman’s choreographic craft and
invention—setting the free swing of limbs and bodies against forces of
suspension and hesitation—that keep the work taut and surprising.
The New Yorker
Tribe
A contemporary dance for six inspired by ancient themes, values and
beliefs, Tribe explores the human body as a repository of reflection
and support, community, struggle and celebration.
Cycles
One of the darkest, and most celebrated, of the repertory, a signature
dance of Gwirtzman’s; set on the North Carolina Dance Theatre.
A gripping series of abstract,
four-bodied sculptures, animated by surprising jolts of energy and
cunning games of weight and balance. The riveting drama lies in
the work’s formal design and the dispassionate clarity with which it is
performed. Back Stage
Impressive…Oren Bar-noy’s
mysterious attack on Gwirtzman sends shock waves through the bodies and
behavior of the ensemble…Cycles slowly mutates from abstract into
explicitly violent movement, catching us up in its kinetic spell
without descending to melodrama. The Village Voice
Coupling
A very brief duet set to an original score, Coupling features inventive
partnering with an emotional jolt at the end. “A gem” according
to dance critic Elizabeth Zimmer
Puzzle
A signature dance and audience favorite, Puzzle is an exploration of
composition and form, as made possible through the use of three varied
bodies, with an emphasis on the innovative. Fun and humorous!
Obsession
Obsession, a signature duet, is
fiery, fast and infectious; “intriguingly, like deconstructed flamenco
dancing” Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times
Mapping
Footage from the highly-praised solo Mapping finds inspiration from the
prescription of so much of our lives: from the specific pathways of our
daily commutes, to the global positioning systems, which track us
anywhere in the world. So intent on mapquesting everything, have
we lost the journey for the destination, the process of
discovery? Limitation versus liberation.
Race
Gwirtzman challenges himself and longtime Company dancer and muse Stacy
Martorana to extend their physical and emotional range in a race
against themselves and each other. Unpredictable and exciting,
Race shows the dancers' hunger for power and the opportunity to come
out on top. Electrifying music, energetic movement, and a
magnetic chemistry immerse the audience in a fast-paced battle.
All programs may finish with a Question and Answer session, allowing
the audience the opportunity to gain insight into the program from
hearing the choreographer’s and dancers’ perspectives, learn about the
process of making and maintaining the dances, share opinions, make
comments and ask questions.
Teaching Programs
Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company was “founded upon a philosophy that
dance should celebrate human achievement through a combination of
discipline and unbound optimism.” The New York Sun (about the Company’s
10th Anniversary season)
OVERVIEW
The Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company directed by choreographer, teacher,
and dancer Daniel Gwirtzman, has demonstrated a commitment to education
since is inception in 1998. The Company has stayed true to
cultivating the creation of innovative art and presenting this to the
public through programming that allows anyone to join in the dance.
MISSION
The mission of the Company is to educate the public about the art of
dance in interactive, accessible, and meaningful ways.
HOW IS THIS MISSION ACHIEVED?
Programs encourage audiences to be active participants, as part of the
Company’s effort to integrate communities into the dance-making and
performing process. This is achieved through classes,
workshops, lecture-demonstrations, residencies, performances, our
website, and instructional videos.
PHILOSOPHY
The heart of our philosophy is that anyone can learn to dance, given
the interest and discipline. We strive to teach people how dance
can play a meaningful part of their physical and overall well-being.
HISTORY
Since our inception, the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company has been
transforming diverse populations of all abilities and ages into
dancers. The Company helped to write the Blueprint for Teaching
and Learning in the Arts, the arts curriculum mandated by Mayor
Bloomberg.
PARTNERSHIPS
The Company thrives on collaborations with community-based
organizations throughout and outside of New York City. The Company has
a rich history of partnering with College and University dance
department programs throughout the country and abroad.
PROGRAMS
Part of our specific niche is our mission to provide a meaningful dance
experience to our audiences that requires their participation.
IN
THE STUDIO - This critically and publically successful series of
lecture-performances is designed to demystify concert dance and to
empower audiences to speak about it.
DANCE
AT THE GYM -- This program combines performances, lectures and
teaching workshops together to give an audience an intimate dance
experience and an understanding of how dances are made.
Participants will learn how to speak about dance and have the chance to
interact with the dancers very closely through movement exercises. The
event will discuss and explore the dancers' instrument (the body),
partnering, composition, and dance's relationship to music. The
programs are highly interactive.
DANCE
AT THE PARK - A teaching workshop designed to get an entire
community dancing together, Dance at the Park happens outdoors on a
grassy lawn. Daniel and Company members bring the love of dance
to people/families of all ages. Starting with some basic warm-ups
and exercises everyone can do every day to keep fit and active, the
program presents folk and social dances from around the world as well
as improvisation and other creative exploratory exercises. The
Company has collaborated with institutions including the NYC Department
of Parks & Recreation to present interactive public workshops
designed for all ages and skill levels.
COMMUNITY
CHOREOGRAPHIC PROJECTS-The Company has a history of creating
works involving community members of all ages and abilities. This
commitment to community outreach is central to the Company’s mission of
making dance accessible, exciting, and collaborative. The Company
can extend a tour and work closely with different communities, to
educate them to American contemporary dance, and to allow them
opportunities to develop their skills and techniques while exploring
their own creativity. Dances can be choreographed for local
troupes and students to perform.
STAFF
DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS-Working with the medium of dance, we offer
workshops emphasizing team-building, stress management and trust.
PRE-PROFESSIONAL
PROGRAMS –The Company’s programs also include intensive training
for students pursuing dance as a career at the pre-professional and/or
university level.
MASTER
CLASSES-Taught by Daniel and Company members, classes include
contemporary modern technique, partnering, composition, improvisation,
and folk.
Performance Calendar
2011
July 9
Nazareth College Performing Arts Summer Dance Festival (Rochester, NY)
July 24
YM & YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood (New
York, NY)
July 29
Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors
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