Movement Laboratory with Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern & Emilie Leriche

Price: Sliding scale of $30, $35, & $40
Class level: Open

Emilie Leriche & Shawn Ahern, both EU-based creators and performers, co-lead a movement laboratory that shifts between dynamic physicality, floor-work, and conscious, improvisational landscapes.

Based on their shared professional experience, the workshop is built around meeting and exploring physical limits, as well as opening up a creative exchange among the movers in the space.

Dancers can expect a physically rigorous class that is both challenging and light-hearted, with a strong focus on play.
(Kneepads suggested)

ABOUT SHAWN FITZGERALD AHERN

Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern is an American movement director and dancer who emphasizes humanity in his work. He believes strongly in the power of collaboration and is known for his visceral, masterful approach to partnering work and for pairing subtle theatricality with dynamic physicality. Following a seven year tenure creating and performing full time with New York City based Pilobolus Dance Theatre, he moved to Belgium where he spent four years as a lead performer for and choreographic assistant to Belgian-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Now based between Paris and Berlin, Shawn is currently engaged as a freelance performer, director and choreographer in diverse projects around the world.

Fitzgerald has contributed to more than thirty major productions across a wide range of platforms for movement and dance including contemporary theatre, opera, concert dance, music videos and film. Working with Cherkaoui, Pilobolus, Damien Jalet, Marina Abramovic and many other major choreographers and directors, he has performed over one thousand live shows in theaters and opera houses worldwide and his work has been seen on live television, in cinemas, and on screen by millions. His latest choreographic work, Elsewhere, a live contemporary opera composed by Michael Gallen, premiered at the National Theatre of Ireland in November 2021 in Dublin. Counted in the Irish Times’ “Best of 2021”, Elsewhere was lauded by major print media as, “A radical and timely work”, “Fluidly physical”, and, “Beautifully choreographed”. Alongside choreographing, he is currently performing in new touring works by Jalet and Cherkaoui across the globe.

Developing a particular interest in dance for film over the last two years, Shawn has focused his curiosity on cinematic sensibilities; participating in multiple large productions with directors including Greta Gerwig, Joe Wright, and Paul Thomas Anderson. Shawn has been a creative contributor for three Grammy Award nominated dance films (Anima, Thom York/Netflix; All Is Not Lost, OKGo; ApeS**t, The Carters) and an Academy Award winning film (Little Women; Greta Gerwig). Additionally, in the last year Fitzgerald spearheaded five independent dance for film projects with colleagues across the globe, which have been featured and awarded in major film festivals in North America, the UK, Europe and Asia. His most recent film On Mending (co created with director/choreographer Emilie Leriche) is set to premiere in New York City in February 2022, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. The film has been selected to be produced into a live work for stage by the Princess Grace Foundation and will premiere in summer ‘22 the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City.

ABOUT EMILIE LERICHE

Emilie Leriche is a freelance dancer and creator, based in Paris, France. From 2017-2021 she danced with GöteborgsOperans Danskompani under the artistic direction of Katrín Hall. During this time she originated roles in new works by: Yoann Bourgeois, Paul and Christine Blackman, Sharon Eyal, Club Guy and Roni, Roy Assaf, Marina Mascarell, and Damien Jalet.

Leriche began her career dancing with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago under the direction of Glenn Edgerton; after two years in their second company, she spent another four dancing in the main company prior to moving to Sweden. Over recent years, she has felt herself drawn towards creation, towards the tender place we go as artists when we decide to build and explore something new. She has created work on Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, and generated her own research alongside her colleagues at GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.

In 2021 her project, On Mending (a collaboration with Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern), was selected for Orsolina 28’s “Call for Creation” fellowship. With the support of the Princess Grace Foundation, in 2022 the work will continue its development in residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City. She is commissioned by NDT II to create a new work for the company in the summer of 2022.

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To uphold our collective safety and align with the New York City mandate for all gyms, performance venues, and indoor dining establishments, Gibney requires proof of full vaccination for all individuals entering Gibney Center (890 Broadway or 280 Broadway). Masks/face coverings are mandatory at all times at Gibney Center. Review the full policy at www.gibneydance.org/PlanYourVisit.

ABOUT GIBNEY’S TRAINING PROGRAM

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