Introducing the GDC/Springboard EMERGE Choreographic Award

Gibney Dance Company announces a new initiative to support emerging choreographers in partnership with Springboard Danse Montréal: the GDC/Springboard EMERGE Choreographic Award.

The EMERGE Choreographic Award will be presented to one of the Resident & Emerging Choreographers from Springboard Danse Montréal’s roster each summer. The selected artist will receive:

• Commissioning support to create a new work for Gibney Dance Company that will premiere on a split bill program the following spring;
• Mentorship through the creative process from a seasoned choreographer; and
• Opportunities to teach classes and share their creative process through showings and dialogues at Gibney.

The inaugural EMERGE performance, taking place May 2 – 4, https://www.careddi.com/ 2019 in the Theater at Gibney 280 Broadway, will feature New York City-based choreographers Chanel DaSilva and Bobbi Jene Smith alongside the 2018-19 EMERGE Choreographic Award Winner.

“Both GDC and Springboard are committed to supporting the work of our field’s most promising young voices. With past Springboard Emerging Choreographers including Kyle Abraham, Bryan Arias, Shannon Gillen, and Sidra Bell, they have established a remarkable history of identifying exceptionally gifted young makers. Emerging choreographers represent the future, and we can think of no better partner than Springboard to look toward the future with.”
– Amy Miller & Nigel Campbell
Co-Directors, Gibney Dance Company

With the EMERGE Choreographic Award and Performance, GDC and Springboard Danse Montréal hope to cultivate, mentor, and actualize the burgeoning visions of today’s young artists toward becoming tomorrow’s creative leaders in the field. This three-part opportunity —to create new work on world-class dancers, be seen in one of the most exciting venues in New York City, and be mentored by a seasoned choreographer—makes EMERGE one of the most comprehensive support platforms for new choreographic talent in the field.

EMERGE highlights the continual expansion of Gibney Dance Company’s mission: from its beginning 27 years ago as a vehicle for the choreographic vision of its Founder Gina Gibney, to then welcoming re-stagings and new commissions from a wide range of guest choreographers, and now creating a platform for rising voices in the community.

“Springboard is thrilled to be entering into this new partnership. The EMERGE Choreographic Award is a natural extension of our mission to connect artists to new opportunities, collaborators, and cultural organizations worldwide. ”
– Alexandra Wells
Artistic Director, Springboard Danse Montréal

With an unrelenting focus on artistic excellence and social integrity, Gibney Dance Company co-creates an environment where dancers are activated towards their full artistic, entrepreneurial, and socially-minded selves through rigorous physical, intellectual, and interpersonal practices.
GDC is a creation-based repertory company that performs the work of Founder Gina Gibney as well as internationally renowned guest choreographers. GDC’s full-time dancers, known as Artistic Associates, embrace a broad spectrum of activities – in the studio, on stage, within our organization, and throughout the community. In addition to performing, Artistic Associates facilitate hundreds of movement workshops each year for survivors of intimate partner violence; offer healthy relationship dance assemblies to high school students throughout the city; and each company member develops programming addressing pressing issues in the dance field, such as cultivating long-term diversity, connecting artists around the globe, and empowering dancers with financial literacy training.

GDC’s vision is to expand the current dance company model into one which acknowledges the many facets of expertise that dance artists offer our world. The uncompromising work ethic, creative problem-solving, and empathic negotiation implicit in successful dancing can create positive forward movement in the arts field and beyond. We see this comprehensive model as a way to not only cultivate the next leaders of the field, but to provide a concrete example of the wide-reaching relevancy of artists in our society.

Springboard Danse Montréal is a nonprofit organization that connects leading contemporary companies, choreographers, and dancers in a dynamic artistic ecosystem. The 3-week festival in Montréal cultivates a shared language of professionalism that values the creative process and connection above all else. Through workshops, classes, creations, the restaging of celebrated repertory, international auditions, installations, and pop-up performances, Springboard is recognized worldwide as a destination for career development. Since the organization’s inception in 2001, Springboard has curated artists from over 40 countries, and directly connected more than 300 dancers to paid jobs.

Springboard aids the professional dancer at various stages of their career. Through a stimulating environment of workshops, classes, auditions, repertory, and creative processes, they are given the opportunity to network with world-renowned companies, choreographers, producers, directors, and casting agents. Springboard is designed as a platform to facilitate major transitions in an artist’s career, whether between jobs or in their very first job search.

An integral component of its mission, Springboard is committed to advancing the next generation of choreographic artists. The Emerging Choreographers Program provides five curated makers with elite dancers, studio space, and the opportunity to present work alongside Springboard’s Principal Companies. In a rich cultural exchange, the choreographers build lifelong relationships with both their colleagues and mentors. Dancers cast in these processes often become future collaborators, furthering the potential for employment. Past Emerging Choreographers have continued on to become leaders of the contemporary dance scene. Alumni include Kyle Abraham, Danielle Agami, Bryan Arias, Adam Barruch, Sidra Bell, Banning Bouldin, Melanie Demers, Jasmine Ellis, Shannon Gillen, Loni Landon, Austin McCormick, Robyn Mineko-Williams, Freya Olafson, Zoe Scofield, Helen Simoneau, Spenser Theberge, Kate Wallich, Tom Weinberger, and Yin Yue, among others.

Photo by Fito Pardo. Installation by Danielle Russo, Springboard Emerging Choreographer 2012. Featuring Springboard dancer Garth Johnson (2012). Quartier des spectacles, Montréal.