Emanuel Gat
Emanuel Gat was born in Israel in 1969. He first encountered dance at a workshop for amateurs led by Israeli choreographer Nir Ben Gal. Six months later he joined the Liat Dror Nir Ben Gal Company and toured Israel and internationally.
In 1994 Emanuel developed his first solo piece as an independent choreographer and over the next ten years his work was seen in Israel and at dance festivals around the world.
In 2004 Emanuel established his own company, Emanuel Gat Dance, which received the Israel’s Minister of Culture Award in 2005 for outstanding dance performance. In 2006 he was named a chosen artist of the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation IcExcellence, one of the country’s highest honours for artists.
Together with his company Emanuel has presented numerous award-winning works, including an intriguing interpretation of Rite of Spring set to Stravinsky’s immortal score, Winter Voyage to Schubert’s Winterreise and K626, a work for eight dancers based on Mozart’s Requiem.
In 2007 Emanuel Gat moved to France and based his company at the Town on Istres. The first piece he created there was Silent Ballet, a work for 8 dancers with no music. It premiered at the Montpellier Dance Festival in 2008 and was co-produced by the Lincoln Center Festival New York, Roma Europa Festival, the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London and the Montpellier Dance Festival.
The following year Emanuel created Hark at the invitation of the Paris Opera Ballet and returned to work with long-time collaborator Roy Assaf on Winter Variations, which premiered at the American Dance Festival.
Rafael Bonachela describes guest choreographer Emanuel Gat as “a master of purity, creating works imbued with incredible musicality. He is one of the most exciting choreographers in the world today.” His commission for New Creations 2 in 2010 was the first time his work was seen in Sydney.
Rafael Bonachela believes that Emanuel Gat’s movement style is “an exciting and potent formula” when combined with the notable strengths of the Sydney Dance Company dancers.