INTERVIEW: Daniel Gwirtzman wants to dance with you
Photo: The Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company presents Willow during its virtual Dance With Us program. Photo courtesy of Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company / Provided by Michelle Tabnick PR with permission.
The Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company recently launched a series of new dance films in its continued journey of expanding its digital offerings. The final night of the three-day event is scheduled for tonight, June 27 at 7 p.m. That’s when Seán Curran, artistic director of the Seán Curran Company, will host the virtual evening. Joining him will be Michael Novak, artistic director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company.
Here’s what audience members can expect during this “educational” online experience. First off, there’s a guided tour of the company’s website, plus screenings of several short films, including Parade. Then, there will be the world premiere presentations of two new dance films: Willow and Dollhouse. Also, those who tune in will have the chance to see six other works in progress that are set to launch in the coming months. The evening is capped off by a 30-minute after party.
Willow, according to press notes, showcases an ensemble of dancers moving in unison in a variety of natural settings. Specifically, the dance is inspired by the “transformative process of a tree.” Dollhouse, on the other hand, finds 10 dancers exploring a dollhouse that comes to life.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Gwirtzman, who is billed as a producer, director, educator, filmmaker and dancer. For his company, he has created more than 100 repertory works, and he has also worked for the Joyce Theater Foundation, Ucross Foundation, The Studios at Key West and Aktuelle Architektur der Kultur in Spain, among other institutions. The Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company has been around since 1998. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can audiences expect from Dance With Us?
Audiences will be immersed into the world of contemporary dance in a way that is unique and uncustomary. The platform is designed to demystify concert dance. Visitors will be taken behind the scenes to gain insights from dancers narrating their performances, visualize how dances are constructed, and browse an extensive library of dances and dance films to satisfy any mood, from the violently dark to the vibrantly sunny. Whether a novice or an expert, audiences will be treated to a feast of dance content.
Has it been challenging this past year transitioning live performance to a virtual format?
The company has worked in the medium of dance film for the past decade. We were able to employ our skills of site-specific dance production immediately when the pandemic hit, pivoting from proscenium-style performances to those in the great outdoors and in great untraditional interiors. The three world premieres that will launch this week — Parade (in a courtyard by a pool), Willow (in a range of lawns and meadows) and Dollhouse (in an eccentrically-furnished barn) — demonstrate this versatility and adaptability.
Can dance be effective on film and in a virtual format, or will live dance always win out?
It’s instructive to recall how instrumental dance and film have been since the birth of cinema. From the beginning of the craft, choreography and dance have been employed. It’s part of film’s history. The exciting thing about the dance for camera genre is that it is not attempting to replace or copy live dance. It can’t. It is inherently its own thing, a three-dimensional form transformed into two dimensions. This is not a compromise, rather, a specific and purposeful form of art. Both will live on and flourish unquestionably. Each genre has distinct aims and values.
The company has been going strong for 22 years. What are the plans for the next 22?
The plans are to continue the production of art that is charismatic, provocative and entertaining, and to share this work with audiences in ways that are accessible, meaningful and relevant. The Dance With Us platform is just that, a foundational support from which we envision the expansion of our interactive and community-centered programming. Ambition has never been in short supply throughout the company’s existence. The plans are to cultivate the next level of support that will bolster our sustainability, to enable us to continue going strong for the next two decades plus. My grandmother lived to be 102, and the company’s incorporated name is named for her!
When did you realize in your career that your talents extended beyond dancing and could include choreography and teaching?
How does one separate the dancer from the dance? I have been choreographing for as long as I have been dancing just about, making up dances and teaching them to my friends. After college I began teaching in earnest when a former professor invited me to teach at the Interlochen Center for the Arts one summer. I grew up in an artist’s home, observing my mother, a watercolorist, teaching her students. During my collegiate years I had the opportunity to study with one of my mentors, the great choreographer Garth Fagan, who saw and supported my choreographic skills. Before joining his troupe as a member, he had produced a solo of my own work on a program of his own. The cultivation of choreographic techniques grew alongside that of my own dancing body.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Dance With Us, presented by the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, will continue June 27. Click here for more information and tickets.
