Writer Madeleine L. Dale reviews Mapping, Attitude Magazine, Vol 26, No. 3

Inception to Exhibtion (ITE), an interdisciplinary arts organization, was founded in 2009 by Tiffany Rea-Fisher and Matthew Fisher. They serve as Artistic and Executive Directors, respectively. At the Broadway district’s Shetler Theatre from March 11-15, 2015, ITE held its second annual dance festival of works-in-progress, world premieres, and re-staged pieces, for one, two, and three dancers. While ITE is committed “to supporting groundbreaking emerging artists and helping them gain traction for their work,” the festival included some established choreographers, notably Daniel Gwirtzman and Francesca Harper.

Daniel Gwirtzman’s Mapping, to Stars on the Lid, explored today’s easily tracked comings and goings and asked, “Have we lost the journey for the destination, the process of discovery?” While Mr. Gwirtzman has set the piece on others more recently, he had not danced the solo since 2007. Created for a space that allowed the dancer to travel thirty-five feet, the metaphorical exploration “of leaving the grid, of getting lost, themes of limitation versus liberation” in a small black box theater, became literal. Tall, strong-boned, with defined musculature exposed by black tank and pants, Mr. Gwirtzman could not leap but a few inches or he would hit the lights. Of the re-staging process he said, “I’m a different person and a different body now.”

Mr. Gwirtzman was a personality-less Everyman whose methodical, crisp, clocklike movements were robotic. He progressed forward and backward with his arms shooting out or up, parallel to each other and stiff, in a manner markedly unlike the natural swing of arms when one walks. He repeatedly ended steps with a loud slap of fist into palm, the sound of wordless frustration. Determined, the stolid, unblinking character forged on in a consistent vocabulary. His only variation was to accelerate. This yielded short-lived, slightly softer, Tai Chi-like perturbations, until Mr. Gwirtzman dropped, prostrate, arms outstretched. The setting of his fingers one by considered one riveted him to the floor and the audience to him. On his belly, Mr. Gwirtzman bent his knees, raised his legs together, and leaned them slowly to one side, almost rolled over, but each time he made the effort, he fell back to the flat, face-down, position of defeat. How like us to keep trying the same hopeful, ineffective action, over and over.

Mid-August—Daniel has returned from the Skafiotes Residency in Greece.  Collaborating with video artist Stefanos Milkidis the two developed site-specific choreography in the gorgeous mountains of Lefkada island in the Ionian Islands, where the residency is based.  It was a prolific period of research and creative play during the twenty-five days in Greece. The international residency is for artists from all fields of practice of the arts: visual arts, music, new forms of art, film and audiovisual production as well as for art researchers, curators and producers. The program’s mission is to encourage multi-disciplinary artistic creation and art-related scientific work. Daniel and Stefanos heartily embarked on this journey and are excited to edit the footage into new dance films to share with you in the coming months.

The Company’s residency, supported by a 2015 CUNY Dance Initiative Rehearsal Residency at Kingsborough Community College, culminated in an Open Rehearsal Thursday, July 16 at On Stage at Kingsborough. Daniel showed new choreography in development to a wonderful audience of interested dance-goers. Thank you to CUNY, KCC and the dancers for making the three-week residency […]

Bryant Park presents Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company in performance Friday, July 10, 6-7:30pm. A shared program of three companies, including Jennifer Muller/The Works and Manuel Vignoulle Dance. The Company’s virtuosity, musicality, innovation, humor and vibrant dancers will be on display as we present highlights from our acclaimed repertory: Olympiad Museum Summmertime Suite New Work (Premiere) […]

Daniel Gwirtzman’s newest dance, Accelerate, previewed as part of the inaugural Higher Ground Festival. Due to a stormy summer rain, the performance occurred at the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood, 54 Nagle Avenue, NYC, 10040, in Northern Manhattan.

The Company previews a new dance, Accelerate, during the inaugural festival in Fort Tryon Park, Northern Manhattan. Saturday, June 27, 6pm, Fort Tryon Park, Washington Heights, Manhattan. More info to be posted early June.

The Company made its Atlanta debut May 22 and 23 with the regional premiere of The Oracle at The Balzer Theater at Herren’s with an acclaimed cast of dancers. The weekend-long run was part of the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival. The dance featured four highly charismatic dancers, including the choreographer Daniel Gwirtzman and longtime dancer […]

Artistic and Executive Director, choreographer, teacher and still very much principal dancer, Daniel Gwirtzman performed his signature dance solo Mapping to critical and public acclaim in March.  Says Gwirtzman, “Dancing at this pitch, at this point in my life is an amazing experience.”  The Dance Enthusiast, a critical dance site, offered the following review from […]

Saturday, March 14, 6-8pm, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company Apprentices, premiered Go!, a durational dance choreographed for the opening of Pause at the Zuckerman Museum of Art in Atlanta.  The dance for six, which featured dance majors at Kennesaw State University, was in continuous performance for the two-hours of the opening. Featuring over sixty multimedia works […]

  ITE’s 2nd Annual Contemporary Dance Festival, March 11-15, will bring together some of NYC’s most talented emerging and established choreographers for an immersive focus on contemporary concert dance. The festival will feature two world premieres, a New York premiere, as well as six works-in-progress and re-staged pieces.  DGDC’s acclaimed solo Mapping will be performed […]