In our nineteenth edition of the festival, we are once again bringing a number of international dance companies to the Netherlands that have never before been seen here. In the case of the New York City-based Gibney Company, it is even a European debut.
True, the company has been around for a while: it was founded in 1991 and is still directed by choreographer and cultural and social entrepreneur Gina Gibney. But in the early 2020s, the group received a significant gift from a private donor, making possible an ambitious and sweeping transformation and expansion. Not only did the size of the company double, the financial injection also enabled Gibney to connect not only talented, often young dance makers but also the cream of the international dance world to her company. Among them choreographers who are also among the top in our country - such as Ohad Naharin, the duo Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Johan Inger and Gustavo Ramirez Sansano - as well as new stars in the choreographic firmament. The metamorphosis is paying off: the group has since celebrated successes at the famous Joyce Theater in New York and during New York's prestigious Fall for Dance festival, among others, and is touring to Fall for Dance North in Toronto, Dance Victoria in British Columbia, several performing arts centers in the U.S. and planning their New York season in the spring. For the performances in the Netherlands, Gibney and festival director Samuel Wuersten will make a surprising choice from the diverse, renewed repertoire, focusing on creations that have not been seen here before.
A home for thousands of New Yorkers
Incidentally, the Gibney Company is an exceptional company for more reasons than its recent "reinvention”. The group is the heart of the organization that Gina Gibney started in 1991 with the goal of combining her passion for dance and fight for social justice. Although she began with only one studio, her initiative soon expanded to two locations, Gibney 280 Broadway and Gibney 890 Broadway, - with 23 studios and five presentation spaces - in addition to Gibney Company, which has provided a home to thousands of New York dancers and dance amateurs over the decades. In addition to offering a wide range of classes, the Gibney organization's activities also make important contributions to diversity and inclusion, mental health and economic self-sufficiency, among others.
