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Maria Gillespie is the choreographer
and artistic director of the Los Angeles-based contemporary dance
company, Oni Dance. She was selected as one of Dance Magazine's "Top
25 to Watch" (2005) and was recently awarded the 2005 Lester Horton
Award for best female performance in her evening length dance
Bandits at The Getty Center. Gillespie's dances... "ricochet between
vulnerability and strength with razor-sharp shifts in intensity and
intent" (Sara Wolf, LA Times). An artist who thrives on improvising,
developing, accumulating and interpreting movement, Gillespie's
choreography is a seamless blend of classicism and supple, grounded
quirkiness. Originally from Nashville, TN, she studied at the School
of Nashville Ballet and performed with the company. She received her
BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase in 1993. As a member of the Purchase
Dance Corps, Ms. Gillespie performed choreography by Charles Weidman
and Lin Hwai-min of Cloud Gate Dance Theater. Upon graduating in
1993, she formed 86 NYLON, a collaborative trio whose choreography
was presented (93-95) by Dixon Place, Movement Research, Gowanus
Arts Exchange, and Next Stage Company.
Since moving to LA in 1996, Ms. Gillespie's choreography has been
presented at The Getty Museum, the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts
Theater (REDCAT), UCLA's Department of World Arts & Cultures, The
Fowler Museum, Highways Performance Space, The Electric Lodge, Cal
State Long Beach, The Brand Library & Arts Center, The Fountain
Theater, The Met Theater, LA Dance Invitational, SOLA Dance
Festival, and the Dance Moving Forward Festival, as well as in New
York City, Colorado and Tokyo, Japan. Her choreography has been
commissioned by The Getty Center, Scripps College, Pomona College,
and Cal State Long Beach dance departments. Locally, she has enjoyed
and been inspired by working and performing with Helios Dance
Theater, Joe Goode, Victoria Marks, David Rousseve, and String
Theory Ensemble. Noted as a "charismatic, mighty performer.with a
distinct vision" (Victoria Looseleaf, LA Times) she is a four time
Lester Horton Award winner (2002, 2203, 2005). She is the honored
recipient of grants from The Durfee Foundation (2002) and The James
Irvine Foundation Grant, Dance: Creation to Performance (2004). Ms.
Gillespie has received critical acclaim in several publications
including, The LA Times, The New York Times, The Village Voice, and
Dance Magazine. A recent review describes. "Gillespie's growing
repertory demonstrates a capacious gift for idiosyncratic movement
invention that showcases unpredictability as it trades on the
dramatic implications of kinetic extremes" (Sara Wolf, LA Times).
A recognized and respected choreographer in Los Angeles for several
years, Ms. Gillespie formed Oni Dance in 2005 and created their
first season. The year began with a repertory concert at The Brand
Library, a commission at Pomona College, Highways Performance Space
benefit, the premiere of Imperfection/Unsung at REDCAT, a tour to
NYC's International Dance Festival, and the premiere of her new work
Bandits, commissioned by The Getty Center. A respected teacher of
contemporary technique, Ms. Gillespie regularly offers master
classes publicly and in universities throughout Southern California.
She is on faculty at UCLA's department of World Arts & Cultures and
Loyola Marymount University where she teaches contemporary modern
dance as well as offering weekly modern classes in Venice.
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