Emily Gualtieri
Montreal
Having come to dance at the age of four, Emily Gualtieri underwent a rigorous and extensive training at The National Ballet School of Canada before rebelling against the confined structures of the classical ballet world. An underlying interest in creation, choreography, and diverse movement practices led her to enroll in Concordia University’s Contemporary Dance Department. After having obtained her BFA, Emily self-produced two shows at Studio 303 in Montreal: Goodnight, Nina (2007), and Under/Overtaken (2008) with guest artist Susanna Hood. She then premiered It’s About Time at Toronto’s Dance Matters series and at Studio 303’s Vernissage series Games #145 in May 2009. In June 2009 at the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, Emily and long-time collaborator David Albert-Toth presented a solo work entitled Awaiting. In 2010, Emily and David were awarded a creation grant from CALQ for emerging artists to create The Calculated Risk Project, which was presented in 2011 at the Bouge d’ici festival and at the Judson Church Movement Research Series in New York City. Emily and David choreographed the solo La chute, which toured Québec in 2010/11, opening for Andrew Turner’s Duet for One Plus Digressions.
In addition to her choreographic pursuits, Emily has also worked as a rehearsal director, namely for José Navas’ new creation Diptych and for his 2011 European tour of Miniatures. Emily and David co-founded PARTS+LABOUR_DANSE in 2011, which has since been at the forefront of her focus and dedication. Emily currently travels between Montreal and Toronto, participating and exchanging with creators and movers from both cities to create a dialogue with artists at various residencies in Toronto, namely at Hub 14. Emily and David will soon begin a new creation, In Mixed Company, which will premiere in 2013 in Montreal and Toronto.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
As a contemporary dancer and choreographer, I draw from other art forms including theatre and visual art; I have a deep-rooted interest in explorations of the human condition as expressed in these disciplines. My interest in dance lies primarily in those times when it is humanized, in the moment when it stops being about the dance and begins being about the people dancing it, their relationships with one another, and with the audience. While I pursue a high level of physicality and abstraction in my choreographic and interpretive work, I understand them as tools with which to explore and illustrate a deeper perception of the performer in all his/her humanity.
Physical and conceptual exploration remains at the forefront of my creative mandate, fueled by the complexities of the human condition. My work is infused with a distinctly minimalist theatricality that exploits the expressive potential of the fully present body in movement. I am inspired by the effortful process towards resolution more than by resolution itself, and by the necessary communication between individuals working towards it. As a result, my central vision is focused on highly collaborative work; this applies not only to the characters I put on stage but to the real-life individuals with whom I collaborate.