Company Curated: Alanna Morris-Van Tassel & Shannon Gillen/VIM VIGOR

Company Curated is an outlet for Gibney Company to present the work of diverse choreographers who share the values of its unique model, viewing dance artists as innovators, generators, and activists. Now in its third annual season, Gibney Company has curated this series prioritizing creators who work with an aesthetic of physical rigor, uncompromising tenacity, and a drive to move the dance field forward. Gibney Company aims to ‘make space’ for entrepreneurial artists who are using their craft to amplify the relevancy of the dance community and position dancers as influential citizens in the world.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Brooklyn-born Dancer, Choreographer, Educator, and Producer, Alanna Morris-Van Tassel was a leading performer with TU Dance from 2007-2017. She is one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch!” (2018) and City Pages’ Artist of the Year (2018). Morris-Van Tassel is a 2015 recipient of a McKnight Fellowship in Dance, commissioning a solo by Idan Sharabi. She self-produced her first solo project, “Yam, Potatoe an Fish!”in October 2018 at Off-Leash Area’s Art Box, enjoying a sold-out MN Premiere, was named Star Tribune’s Best of Dance (2018) and most recently earned City Pages’ Best Choreographer (2019). Her work returns to New York as a part of Gibney Dance Company’s GDC Curated 2020 season. Through AMVTP Alanna produces solo dance works and global commissions that uplift and inspire our humanity; educational programs that utilize the creative arts as a tool for self- development; and community building initiatives that assist underdeveloped populations with resources to thrive. Alanna is currently working on her second project, Black Light, which deconstructs masquerade traditions through ultraviolet black light. Morris-Van Tassel is a proud graduate of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and holds a BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School. www.alannamvt.com

Called ‘mesmerizing’ by VOGUE and championed as ‘vastly gifted’ by Deborah Jowitt, Shannon Gillen has had an extensive career as a dancer and choreographer in NYC and Europe. She was a member of the Johannes Wieland company based at Staatstheater Kassel in Germany; won commissions from Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, the International Solo-Tanz Theater Festival in Stuttgart (3rd prize dance), the TIF theater in Kassel, and was also selected as a THINK BIG choreographer-in-residence at Staatsoper Hannover.

Upon returning to the states, Shannon founded VIM VIGOR as the home for her collaborative choreographic and educational endeavors. Her work has been commissioned across the USA, Canada, Central America, South America and Europe. Additional projects include commissions by fashion label PHELAN for NY Fashion Week, DANCEworks at the Lobero Theatre, Hubbard Street 2, Gibney Dance Company Boston Dance Theater and de Danseurs in NL; notable festivals and venues where her work has been seen include NYLA, Prisma Festival, Judson Church, PULSE Art Fair/Art Basel, Bryant Park, NYC’s River to River festival, The Joyce, and Jacob’s Pillow. In 2018, Shannon was a choreographer in residence at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton and this year she has premieres at the ICA in Boston, UNCSA, Rutgers University, Gibney Dance, Over het lj in the Netherlands and will return to create new work at Springboard Danse in Montreal and at the b12 Festival in Berlin.

Dedicated to educating the next generation of artists, Gillen has created a physical dance theater education platform in NYC with VIM VIGOR, with annual winter and summer programming. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and earned her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Visit www.vimvigordance.com to learn more.

ACCESSIBILITY

Gibney 280 Broadway is accessible via elevator from the main entrance at 53A Chambers Street.

We welcome the opportunity to make this event more accessible. Please refrain from wearing scented products, so that people with chemical sensitivities can join us. Please request ASL interpreting, audio description, or open captioning 30 days before the event or submit other requests by completing our Access Requests and Inquiries Form or calling 646.837.6809 (Voice only).