Emanuel Gat
Choreographer & Dancer |
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"Amazing, hypnotic - a constant fascination. The dancers´ bodily command was remarkable. Deeply impressive".
New York Times
Press Reviews
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Born in Israel in 1969, Emanuel Gat grew up convinced that his future lay in music, and started studying at the Rubin Academy of Music after his army service. But a dance workshop he happened to attend at age 23 introduced him to his true passion. He joined the Liat Dror & Nir Ben-Gal Dance Company and two years later had already choreographed his first work - a solo, Four Dances, to music by Bach.
In 2004 Emanuel formed his own company, the Emanuel Gat Dance Troupe, which quickly gained success and worldwide recognition, and was invited to perform extensively around the world.
The premier of Winter Voyage/The Rite of Spring took place at Uzes festival in June 2004. In 2006 Emanuel Gat received the prestigious Bessie Award for Dance in New York for the presentation of this program at the Lincoln Center Festival. The jury said: "For a remarkable program including ´Winter Voyage,´ a magnificent men´s duet of feral grace and for a fierce hypnotic salsa, displaying a keen sensitivity in all aspects of the theater, in ´Rite of Spring,´ presented at the Lincoln Center Festival."
In 2006 Emanuel Gat created K626, based on Mozart´s Requiem. K626 premiered at the Festival de Marseilles and has since been performed around the world to great acclaim.
In May 2007 the company premiered 3for2007. This three-piece program offers another of Emanuel´s fascinating explorations of the boundaries of choreographic composition on all levels.
In July 08, Emanuel Gat Dance premiered two pieces at the MontpellierDanse Festival: Silent Ballet\Sixty Four, coproduced by The Lincoln Center Festival, Sadlers Wells London, RomaEuropa.
Since October 2007 Emanuel Gat Dance is based in France at La Maison de la Danse in Istres. The company is hosted by Oust Provence. Gat was invited to create a new work for the Paris Opera Ballet, which was premiered in April 2009.
Awards
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2006
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Bessie Award for Dance, New York.
Chosen Artist of IcExcellence Foundation, Israel.
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| 2005 |
Minister of Culture Award, Israel. |
| 2003 |
Rosenblum Award for Performing Arts, Israel.
Hasia Levy Agron Choreography Prize, Israel.
Rabinovich Foundation and lottery grants. |
| 1995 |
Ballet Master Albert Gaubiers Fund, Denmark. |
Works Choreographed by Gat
| 2009 |
Winter variations, Co production: Festival Montpellier Danse 2009, American Dance Festival, Lincoln center Festival, NY, USA.
Hark! / Ballet de l´Opera National de Paris |
| 2008 |
Silent Ballet / Sixty Four *World Premiere, Montpelier Danse, France |
| 2007 |
3for2007, World Premier Festival Movimentos de Wolfsburg, Germany |
| 2006 |
K626, co-produced by the Marseille Festival, the American Dance Festival, GRAN Teater for Dans (Denmark) and TANZtheater International (Germany).
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| 2004 |
The Rite of Spring and Winter Voyage, co-produced by UzesDance (France)
Monaco Dance Forum (Monaco) and the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel-Aviv.
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| 2003 |
Two Stupid Dogs, for five dancers, commissioned by the Israel Festival, with music by rap group MWR and Hamza Al-Din. |
| 2002 |
Ana wa Enta, a duet choreographed with Niv Seinfeld to music by Farid Al Atrash. |
| 2001 |
A Local Recital, a solo in collaboration with 5 Israeli choreographers, with soundtrack by Gat. |
| 2000 |
Goodyear, a work for eight dancers commissioned by the Kibbutz Dance Company, with soundtrack by Gat. |
| 1999 |
Kasha, a duet to music of Gat´s own composition. |
| 1998 |
Gol, political-satire cabaret show in collaboration with musician/ actor/ songwriter Mariano Weinstein as the "Al-Kuds Duo." |
| 1996 |
Polipopipop, same as above. |
| 1995 |
Bananas, a duet to music of Ori Vidislavski. |
| 1993 |
Four Dances, a solo to music by J.S. Bach. |
Video clips
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Winter Voyage
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K626
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The Rite of Spring
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My Favorite Thing
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IcExcellence is supporting Emanuel in tailor-made artistic programs, and providing special career advancement consulting.
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Photo by Osnat Karsenanski
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Press Reviews
"…Emanuel Gat displays a distinctive sensibility: liquid assemblages of feathery moves, cut with warped styling and naturalistic gesture. Though abstract, his work invites interpretation. What kind of community performs Silent Ballet: inmates, a tribe? Dancers regard each other mistrust-fully then gang up in a suspicious huddle. The air between them crackles with questions."
David Jays, The Sunday Times
"Rising choreographer Emanuel Gat trained as a conductor before turning to dance. Oddly, his background shows most clearly in Silent Ballet, a work performed virtually without music. Although there are just eight dancers on stage, the way Gat coordinates them has an almost orchestral feel.
Individuals and small groups are highlighted with a color and precision that evoke the contrasting effects of different instruments. A taut ensemble of small, nervy steps and weaving arms suggests the high pitch of violins; a couple crossing the space in a low, prowling walk become a darkly vibrating bass-line. Even though Gat´s choreography can be spare to the point of minimal, the overall impression is fascinatingly rich."
Judith Mackrell, The Guardien
"His movement is pure and refined, a mix of soft lines and overwhelming accuracy. It is the center of his proposition and he refrains from adding outside elements as texts videos etc. In Silent Ballet he also removes the music in order to let the bodies do the talking in total silence. We can hear the puff of dance, the sound of footsteps, the thud, the jumps, the sound of racing dancers. It is a choreography that requires listening in order to perceive the dance…It is a dance with a deep sense of self-reflection."
Giuseppe Distefano, Cultura e Tempo Libero
"Also performing to an enthused audience was Israel´s Emmanuel Gat Dance Company in the world premiere of a new work, Silent Ballet (which arrives at Sadler´s Wells in September). Silent Ballet saw nine dancers dressed in nude tones of grey and beige execute choreography which oscillated between ferocity, speed and steely poise. Much of the movement radiated from the torso, a taut powerhouse in Gat´s work - bodies arched, forceful, and at once fluid and articulated."
Mary Kate Connolly, Londondance.com
"...this was dance of incredible originality, clear articulation, robust physicality, and sophisticated intelligence. It was just a taste of a choreographer and a company that cried out for more, more, more...."
Seth Rogovoy, critic-at-large, Berkshire Living magazine, July 2006
"Last night´s performance at the American Dance Festival proves how refreshing it is to see choreography rooted in sharp intuition and an unpretentious search for new paths. Charismatic Emanuel Gat showed two dances on themes of human desire and loss, subject to the mercy of nature. Winter and spring provided the context for his singular style. When American dance fans speak of Israel, Ohad Naharin´s name is often the only to arise in conversation. There are lesser-known Israeli choreographers, though, who deserve just as much attention. Add Gat´s name to the list. His work shows traces of classic German and American modern dance, elements of release technique and a skillful integration of social dancing, but it´s hardly predictable."
Boston Herald, June 27, 2005
"Salsa on top of a volcano....The originality of the piece is due to the use it makes of salsa dance, as the basis for the choreography. This wonderful and amazing mix is performed with elegancy and lust by five dancers."
Le Figaro, June 20, 2004
"...Dancing salsa on Stravinsky, it´s possible - and as a proof we have the burning presentation by Emanuel Gat....Everything is beautiful and dangerous in this modern hunt...On his second year at the festival, Emanuel Gat, 34 years old, punches a precise uppercut."
Le Monde, June 20, 2004
"Opening of Beauty with Gat...After having a great success last year with his solo, Gat shows a sense of musicality that is the sign of a promising choreographer. His duo with Roy Assaf on "Winter Voyage" by Schubert is an example for a sensible musical intelligence, when he leaves large spaces of silence for contrapuntal dance. The monastery like costumes could not hide the animal ambiguity and eroticism of this brother´s duel."
Boston Herald, July 19, 2004
"The renovation of the ´Rite´
Emanuel Gat is known to us mainly as a virtuous dancer. It seems that from now on he will also be considered as an original and daring choreographer."
Maariv, Aug. 15, 2004
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