With any justice, history will honor Gibney Dance Company for exquisite, sensitive choreography that mattered in a time when so much cultural product did not. — Village Voice
Gina Gibney’s repertory of works and community outreach have received wide acclaim and support from audiences, colleagues, and critics. The cornerstone of Gibney’s repertory is a collection of eight evening-length works, composed over a last decade, that explore the humanity and poetry of the moving body. Beyond the stage, Gibney is also dedicated to using the transformative power of dance – both in performance and in practice – to give voice to individuals in need. Considered a pioneer in connecting the arts with the broader community partnerships, her Company’s work has reached thousands of domestic violence survivors.
Gibney graduated with high honors and received a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Case Western Reserve University. In addition to studies with Kathryn Karipides, David N. Brown, Kelley Holt, Mark Morris, and Jocelyn Lorenz, her choreography is greatly influenced by the performers and collaborators with whom she has worked. Gibney’s work has received recognition and support from a wide range of prestigious organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York Community Trust, and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. Her work has been presented and commissioned by prestigious venues in the US and abroad, including Danspace Project, White Bird Dance, Yale Repertory Theater, The Joyce Theater, The Guggenheim Museum, and Internationale Tanzmesse NRW. Gibney proudly serves on the Executive Committees of Danspace Project and Dance/USA, and she was recently named to the Honorary Circle of Dance/NYC.
In my work, I want to reveal what it is to be human—in the most simple, basic terms. I want to create a choreographic world where strength and tenderness are equally important, where touch and separation are meaningful, and where movement takes on the quality of an intimate conversation. Much of my work is about connection. I want to create work that reminds us that we share a common environment and that our similarities are greater than our differences.
As a choreographer, I am an observer. I try to look honestly at how dancers connect to movement and to the complex web of relationships. For example, I look for stillness, for that charged moment of non-movement and what that means to dancers examining their internal motivations and those of each other. I look for gestures that reach and enfold, hold and rebuff, contain and lose. I look for movement that has authenticity and weight. I look for focus that reaches deeply inward, yet is clear and open, with active awareness and a sense of reciprocity. -Gina Gibney
