Choreography | Gabrielle Martin

As a choreographer, I explore the body in its struggle for agency, calling to an embodied resistance. I am in perpetual study of tenacious, defiant bodies. As an artist with a formation in contemporary dance and a professional background as an aerial acrobat, my work explores the body’s ephemeral subversion of gravity and is realized from the floor to the air and the spaces between. Since 2018, I have been choreographing and producing contemporary aerial dance projects with Corporeal Imago, exploring the shadow-side of our human experience with the expressive power of suspension. Uninterested in realism, we make new illusions for the disenchanted.

Current Choreographic Repertoire and Presentations:

Limb(e)s

Limb(e)s is contemporary aerial-dance that explores the liminal space between holding onto or letting go of another. A “Dark, quietly riveting gem of aerial drama” (The List), Limb(e)s unfolds to the haunting original music of composer Nicolas Bernier in a rich visual world that earned it a Total Theatre Award nomination in Physical and Visual Theatre (2019). The result is a hypnotic, destabilizing narrative full of loss, yearning, and tragic beauty.

A Corporeal Imago production.

Original Concept: Gabrielle Martin

Choreographers + Original Cast: Gabrielle Martin + Jeremiah Hughes

2024 remount Cast: Eowynn Enquist + Isak Enquist

Composer: Nicolas Bernier

Lighting Designer: Sophie Tang

Costume Designer: Amy McDougall

Director of Photography for digital version: Jessica Han

Photo: Chris Goff

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien.

Spectacle accueilli dans le cadre des Résidences Ponctuelles de l’Espace Catastrophe //Centre International de Création des Arts du Cirque (BE)

Limb(e)s has also been supported through residency at Cirkör LAB (SE) and the Centre de Création (FR).

Photo of Alex Tam by Chris Rand

Throe

Throe explores our interdependence in the aftermath of our future disaster with a stunning intersection of aerial acrobatics, contemporary dance, and visual theatre. This new work features six powerful performers in a world of aerial ropes, as they cling to what remains in the throes of survival. While Throe depicts us at the mercy of our circumstances, it also highlights the resilience and hope in collectivity. It pushes the boundaries of aerial dance, blurring the space between floor and air to create a compellingly kinetic and visually arresting experience.

A Corporeal Imago production.

Concept: Gabrielle Martin

Co-choreographers: Gabrielle Martin & Jeremiah Hughes

Aerialist-Dancers: Marissa Wong, Brenna Metzmeier,

Darian Mark, Jeremiah Hughes, Alex Tam, Brianne Chan

Composer: Jo Hirabayashi

Lighting Designer: Sophie Tang

Costume Designer: Amy McDougall

Previous Choreographic Repertoire and Presentations:

Infractions was developed upon my earlier work, Box, and was created with support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec Professional Artists Development Grant for Research and Creation in Dance

2012 WAVE RISING SERIES, New York, NY

2011 Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, Guelph Ontario

2011 Independently produced at Studio 303, Montréal QC

Infractions Choreography: Gabrielle Martin Dancers: Andrea Legg, Genevieve Bolla, Melina Stinson

Box Choreography: Gabrielle Martin Dancers: Melina Stinson, Andrea Legg

Box; contemporary dance duet

2010 Sadler’s Wells Global Dance Contest - Top ten finalist, London, UK

2009 Fresh Blood Showcase of Emerging Choreographers, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON

Chrysalis; butoh-inspired aerial fabric duet

(co-choreographed with Andrea Legg under the company Floating Seed)

2011 ROMP! A Festival of Independent Dance, Victoria BC

2010 Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, Guelph, ON

2010 Hillside Music Festival, Guelph, ON

2009 Vancouver International Dance Festival, Vancouver BC

2009 Montréal International Jazz Festival, Montréal QC

2009 Surface – Independently produced at Théâtre Ste Catherine, Montréal QC

Chrysalis

Choreography and performance: Andrea Legg and Gabrielle Martin

Dance Films

As a choreographer, I have collaborated on two dance films with filmmaker Ivan Rubio: Box and Axial and the Plane. These films have been presented internationally at film festivals including: American Dance Festival Dancing for the Camera (USA, 2009 and 2010), Video Danza BA Festival (Argentina, 2009 and 2010), Three Shadows Art Center (China, 2009), ROMP! A Festival of Independent Dance (Canada, 2010), Dance Camera West (USA, 2011), Dance on Camera Festival of the Dance Film Association (USA 2011), Images Festival (Canada, 2011), Agite y Sirva Festival (Mexico, 2012), and Quinzena Contemporary Dance Festival (Portugal, 2012).