Dancers: Eleanor Bunker, Francesca Todesco, Loretta Thomas Photo: J.Lemberger

Choreographer, Catherine Gallant, has been creating work for more than 25 years. Catherine Gallant /DANCE was formed in 2000 after Ms. Gallant began working with her present group of dancers, creating works ranging from solos to large group dances. Ms. Gallant’s work often explores themes of chance, doubt and the body as a source of comfort and torment. In addition to traditional theatrical settings, Ms. Gallant has created works to be performed in train stations, abandoned piers, rose bushes, church balconies and soccer fields. Recently Catherine Gallant/DANCE has been seen at the Merce Cunningham Studio, in Budapest at the National Dance Theater, in Saratoga Springs as part of the American Dance Legacy Institute and at the Arts and Events Series of the World Financial Center.

Ms. Gallant’s choreography has been called “sensitive and well developed…powerful and moving.“ The work represents a mature take on life which demonstrates a unique strength and lyricism, adding depth and emotional resonance to current contemporary dance offerings. The group is constantly pushing in new artistic directions, fueled by collaborative innovation and aesthetic rigor. This approach supports their formal explorations of time, weight, space and flow while mining the human experience from hope, to grief, and intimacy. In addition to the audience community, our projects serve to provide performance opportunities for the wonderful dancers who have worked with Ms. Gallant since 2000 as well as new members whose skills and artistry must be shared through performance. Our programs present movement questions that challenge and engage our widening audience.

Artist Statement
At the core of my work lies a deep interest in the expressive power of human movement. My sources are as varied as the story of a Malaysian fire walking ritual to a 100 year old dance of Isadora Duncan, to children playing in the schoolyard. All of these inspirations have found their way into my work. My process is one of searching, along with the dancers, for moments of off balance and discomfort …searching for questions that lead to new ways of moving and listening.

I often use found movement material. I have always been an ardent observer of people in transit, in conversation, in thought. I sometimes combine small pedestrian gestures with grand space devouring locomotion and wrap these in meditations on family relationships, nature and the body. Although my work is fully contemporary, my movement palette is influenced by my long association with dance history via the works of Isadora Duncan, Katherine Dunham, Anna Sokolow, Doris Humphrey and Jose Limon. I am also inspired by the truly innovative artistry of children, whose appetite for movement I encounter and learn from daily through my teaching in NYC public school.

My interests in the elements of pure dance, narrative and theatrical layering are used to challenge the architecture of my conception in ways that bring up new issues of gesture, texture, focal points, and overall design. We use a collaborative model between choreographer and dancers to share experiences and to experiment as we all contribute our unique voices to the mix of social commentary and visual poetry that we search for.

Artist Bio
Catherine Gallant, dancer, teacher and choreographer has been creating work over the last 25 years. She has produced concerts in New York City at the Cunningham Studio, St. Marks Church, and the Ohio Theater. Catherine has received funding for her choreography from the Harkness Foundation for Dance, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Trust, and NYFA . In the 1980’s Catherine appeared with the Jose Limon Co., Ze'eva Cohen and Dancers, Anna Sokolow, and Muna Tseng. Ms. Gallant is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory and holds an MFA in Dance from Temple University. Ms. Gallant has taught dance courses at the Boston Conservatory, Curry College, and MIT and was the Assistant Director of the 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance Center from 1994-96. From 1986-1993 Ms. Gallant was part of the Boston dance scene, creating work, teaching and performing with Beth Soll Dance Projects.

Ms. Gallant has been the dance teacher at PS/IS 89 in TriBeCa since the school opened in 1998. Catherine explores dance with children in Pre-K through 8th grade using an integrated approach to the arts which includes the language of Laban Movement Analysis and explorations of dance across culture and history. Catherine also directs the PS 89 Dance Group which has performed at the Kids Cafe Festival, Taste of Dance Festival, WFC Wintergarden and at DTW's Family Matters series. Since 2004, PS 89 has worked with the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation on an arts integration project funded by NYSCA.

Ms. Gallant served on the writing committee for the New York City Department of Education’s Blueprint for the Arts in DANCE. She regularly conducts dance education workshops for NYCDOE, Manhattanville College, National Dance Educators Organization, New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) at the 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance Center.

Ms Gallant is also the director and co-founder of Dances by Isadora which has performed in Budapest, Toronto, Moscow, Tokyo, and in NYC in collaboration with Moving Arts Projects at the World Financial Center’s Arts and Events series. Recently Catherine performed as a guest artist with Compagnie L’Onde in Paris at le Centre Nationale de Danse and at the Opera in Rennes, France.

Billy Blanken Billy Blanken grew up in Springfield Ohio. He graduated from Ball State University with degrees in acting and dance performance. After college, he trained at the Joffrey Ballet School. He has worked with the Amy Marshall Dance Company, Mobile Ballet, Atlantic City Ballet Theatre, and Project in Motion of Indianapolis. He would like to thank his family and Catherine for giving him this opportunity. Natalia Brillante Natalia Brillante has performed with the Martha Graham Co., Coyote Dancers, The Isadora Duncan Dance Continuum, The American Bolero Dance Co., Cuadro Romeria Flamenca, Flamenco Extravaganza, Ballet Fiesta Mexicana, Fiesta Flamenca and Danzas Espanolas. Natalia currently works for the Metropolitan Opera dancing in various productions throughout the season. Ms. Brillante is also the founder and director of the American Youth Dance Theater, a school and performing group for children in NYC. Natalia has been working with Catherine Gallant/DANCE and Dances by Isadora since 1993. Michelle Cohen Michelle Cohen began studying modern dance in Washington, DC at the American University. Since 1997 Michelle has performed with Dzul Dance Company, Valerie Green/Dance Entropy (in a summer tour to Yugoslavia), Nancy Zendora, and has worked with Anna Sokolow's Players Project in a video performance of Rooms Etude. She performed with Dances by Isadora in Budapest for the International Isadora Duncan Festival in 2002. Michelle presently teaches pilates and gyrotonics at the Kane School. Michelle performed in France and Serbia this summer and plans to return with her own work next year. Rob Fernandez Rob Fernandez is a multifaceted dancer who is also a musician, actor, and set designer. Rob graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University in Fine Arts with a minor in Dance. Since then he has studied at the Hartford Conservatory, the Limon Professional Studies Program and the Martha Graham School. He has performed with the Connecticut Concert Ballet, Nothern Connecticut Ballet and Full Force Dance Theater. Since joining Catherine Gallant/DANCE he has performed at DTW in Movement Resaerch's Open Performance and at the 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance Center. Chriselle Tidrick Chriselle Tidrick has a varied performance life which includes work in modern dance, acrobatics, stilt dancing, and aerial dance. Her modern dance training includes such diverse styles as Humphrey-Limón, Duncan, Horton and release techniques and is supplemented by a background in ballet. Chriselle has performed with Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance, Alice Farley Dance Theater, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and Pi Dance Theatre, among others. She is currently developing her own company, Above and Beyond Dance. Chriselle has worked with Catherine Gallant/DANCE and Dances by Isadora since 2004. Francesca Todesco Francesca Todesco of Swiss Italian origin, studied dance in Switzerland, Germany, and the US. She has performed in St. Louis as a member of the Artek Dance Co. and Gash/Voigt Dance Theater. Since moving to NY she has studied the Humphrey, Limon, and Sokolow work with Jim May, Lorry May, Betty Jones, and members of the Jose Limon Dance Co., She studies the Duncan technique and rep with Catherine Gallant and Loretta Thomas. Recently she toured with the Sokolow Theater Dance Ensemble to France where she appeared in works by Anna Sokolow and David Parker. Eleanor Bunker Eleanor Bunker has been a member of Anna Sokolow’s Player’s Project since 1990. She has also worked with Hart Opera, the Hoffman Dance Consort, Daniel Lewis Dance, Randance, Dan Wagoner and Dancers, Martita Goshen’s Earthworks, Stephen Welsh, Ernestine Stodelle and was a soloist and rehearsal director with Rondo Dance Theater for eleven years. Eleanor holds a BA in interdisciplinary Studies/Dance Pedagogy and Aesthetics, and teaches modern dance at Dominican Academy. In 2005 Ellie performed with the Sokolow Theater/Dance Ensemble when they presented the work of Anna Sokolow and David Parker on a program with le concert impromptu. Loretta Thomas Loretta Thomas has been teaching and performing for over 25 years and is the director of Murray Street Studio in Tribeca. Her training includes Cunningham and Duncan technique, ballet and Chinese movement forms. She has studied the Duncan repertoire with Julia Levien, Hortense Kooluris, and Lori Belilove. Loretta teaches Duncan workshops and masterclasses most recently at Vassar College.

Catherine Gallant/DANCE is a versatile company of dancer/creators who are able to offer programs which incorporate historic and contemporary dance. The core members of Catherine Gallant/DANCE have studied the work of Isadora Duncan with Ms. Gallant and have backgrounds in the techniques and repertoire of Humphrey/Weidman, Limon, Graham, Sokolow and Cunningham.

Part of continuing the legacy of modern/contemporary dance is ensuring its future. Catherine Gallant/DANCE is also deeply interested in the full range of dance experience from creating and performing to educating future generations. Sharing new choreography as well as repertory works from dance history provides contemporary audiences with insight as to how dance continues to shape and be shaped by our world.

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