Daniel Gwirtzman

Prof. Daniel Gwirtzman, Assistant Professor of Dance

M.F.A. Dance, The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee B.F.A. Dance, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Areas of Emphasis: Modern, Contemporary and Musical Theater Technique, Choreography, Dance and Film, Community Programming, K-12 Arts Education

Email: dgwirtzm@kennesaw.edu

Daniel Gwirtzman-producer, director, educator, filmmaker and performer-celebrates twenty-one years as a professional choreographer in 2016. He has earned praise for the creation of a diverse repertory known for its humor, stylistic versatility, and musicality. "A flair for the entertaining," says critic Elizabeth Zimmer. "Mr. Gwirtzman does know that in dance less can be more. And that's a good thing for any choreographer to know" says The New York Times. The New Yorker describes him as a choreographer of "high spirits and skill" (May 2014).

Daniel has created more than 100 repertory works and is sought after nationally and internationally as a teacher and choreographer. The critically acclaimed New York-based Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company is known for its charismatic and playfully virtuosic work, blending robust physicality with universally relatable themes.

His choreography has been performed at venues throughout the country and abroad and he has been awarded commissions, residencies and fellowships throughout the world, including those by Maison Dora Maar (France), AADK Centro Negra (Spain), the Joyce Theater Foundation (NY), The Yard (MA), Djerassi Resident Artists Program (CA--twice), Raumars (Finland) and the Sacatar Foundation (Brazil--twice). Highlights included performances at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival (Scotland), and Bryant Park Presents in Manhattan.

As a dancer, he has been described as a willowy John Travolta, sensual, playful, a rag doll, unusually supple, and one who moves like the wind. Daniel attended The University of Michigan, graduating with a BFA in Dance, and holds a Masters in Fine Arts from The University of Wisconsin. He danced in the companies of Garth Fagan Dance and the Mark Morris Dance Group among others. He co-founded Artichoke Dance Company in 1995, which The New York Times called "a welcome addition to the New York dance scene." ADC celebrated its 20th Anniversary Season in the spring of 2016 at Manhattan Movement Arts Center in New York, a concert in which he danced in two of his choreographed works.

His hit show Encore premiered in 2007 in New York at Joyce SoHo, was an official selection of the New York Musical Theater Festival in 2009, has been licensed on other professional companies and continues to tour. In 2010 he was selected by the DanceBreak Foundation, supporting the "next generation of great Broadway choreographers." Georgia Metropolitan Dance Theatre featured Encore during its 60th Anniversary season in the fall of 2016.

Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, a nonprofit organization, celebrates its seventeenth anniversary in 2016 and has demonstrated a commitment to education since its inception. Operating with the belief that everyone can join the dance, the programming, known for its energy, innovation and accessibility, seeks to captivate the greatest common denominator among a diverse population.

"Founded upon a philosophy that dance should celebrate human achievement through a combination of discipline and unbound optimism" (The New York Sun), the Company cultivates the creation of innovative art and presents this to the public through multigenerational interactive programming. DGDC thrives on collaborations with community-based organizations throughout and outside of NYC. Contracted with the NYC Department of Education since 1999, the Company has taught dance to over 20,000 students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Recent foundation support includes a multi-year grant from George Soros' Open Society Foundation, from Tony Bennett's Exploring the Arts Foundation, and from the National Endowment for the Arts.

A master teacher, Gwirtzman has been on faculty at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a visiting professor at The University of the North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of Michigan. Daniel has been a guest at various institutions, including the Rochester City Ballet, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, North Carolina Dance Theater, The Joffrey Ballet School, Princeton University, New York University, Fordham University/The Ailey School, Barnard College, Kenyon College, Abrons Arts Center, American Dance Festival Studios, Virginia Commonwealth University, Duke University, Broadway Dance Center, Rutgers University, Richmond Ballet, The Interlochen Center for the Arts, and the LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts among other college and arts high school dance departments.

His dance films continue to screen nationally and internationally. His newest film Terrain makes its premiere during the Fenemens Festival in Barcelona (November 2016). Also in 2016, No Trespassing, (premiered at the American Dance Festival International Screendance Festival in 2012) screened at the Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema (Boulder, CO), Pier screened in the Santa Barbara Fine Arts Festival (CA), and Into The Streets screened during the EnCORE Dance on Screen Festival (Decatur, GA).

In 2014, he celebrated his fifteenth anniversary as the director of Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company with the world premiere of The Oracle, at the prestigious BAM Fisher. Touring to Atlanta the following year the work was mentioned in Arts/ATL’s Year in Review. Critic Cynthia Bond Perry wrote the work “offered fresh perspective on modern dance’s formal values with sparkling sweep and joyful physicality…Like moving armatures, dancers gave form to space with mathematical elegance and human warmth. Their outstretched limbs arced and criss-crossed as they leaned in and sprang off of one another, weaving ever-changing configurations in a vision that vibrated on a frequency of harmony and brilliance.”

For more information, please visit www.gwirtzmandance.org