Eric Gauthier (dancer) (born 1977) is a Canadian-born dancer, choreographer and musician. After a soloist career at the Stuttgart Ballet he founded Gauthier Dance/ /Dance Company at the

Theaterhaus Stuttgart Theaterhaus Stuttgart is a theatre in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...

in 2007. In 2011, he won the German Dance Prize

Deutscher Tanzpreis The Deutscher Tanzpreis (German Dance Prize) is a prestigious prize for artistic dance in Germany. It has been awarded annually since 1983. The ''Deutscher Berufsverband für Tanzpädagogik'' awarded the prize until 2012. From 2013 to 2017, it wa ...

Early life and education

Eric Gauthier was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

as "son of a leading Alzheimer's researcher". He has said that "at first, all I wanted was to be a hockey player... a goalie to be exact. But then, when I was nine years old, I saw the musical Cats in Toronto and that’s when I decided I wanted to be a dancer." Gauthier studied ballet at the school of

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (GBCM) is a ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A creative and repertory company, it performs works that reflect the diverse trends of contemporary ballet. History Les Grands Ballets Canadien ...

in Montreal and at the

National Ballet School Canada's National Ballet School, also commonly known as the National Ballet School of Canada, is a classical ballet school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, it is a provider of professional ballet tr ...

in Toronto, where he also took music and voice lessons. In 1995, he became an apprentice with the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

in Toronto under

Reid Anderson (dancer) Reid Bryce Anderson (born 1 April 1949) is a Canadian ballet dancer, ballet director and artistic director. He danced with the Stuttgart Ballet before returning as artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada in 1987. He returned to the Stu ...

. Gauthier credited Anderson as being the most influential person in his career and as his "Ballet Papa".

Career

In 1996, Gauthier left Toronto for Germany, as Anderson became Director of the Stuttgart Ballet and joined him as a member of his group. In 2000, Gauthier was named

demi-soloist Demi-soloist can have one of two meanings in the ballet. The first is for a solo rôle normally danced by a member of the ''corps de ballet''. Such rôles are often made in pairs, that is, two corps dancers, dance together, frequently in mirror imag ...

, and in 2002 he was promoted to soloist. In 2005 he made his debut in choreography, in 2006 he created "Ballet 101" and in 2007, he created "Air Guitar". In 2007, aged 30 years, he founded his own troupe, "Gauthier Dance/ /Dance Company", initially with 6 dancers and supported by the

. a construct that was unique in Germany. In 2015, he started the biennial Stuttgart Dance festival, called COLOURS with open air interactive dances, which premiered from 25 June to 12 July 2015. The troupe had their U.S. debut at the 2015

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Jacob's Pillow is a dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The organization is known for a Summer dance festival. The facility also includes a professional school and extensive archives a ...

. Their repertoire as of 2016 included 37 pieces.

Reception, awards

The 2010 adaptation of the Monteverdi opera ''

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...

'' with choreography by Christian Spuck was compared to a

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

film, "...it just has style, and like his films the ballet was impeccably well made". In 2012/13, Gauthier was twice nominated as "Dancer of the Year" by German magazine "tanz" for the solo "I Found A Fox" which had been created for him. In 2015, Gauthier received the "Medal of Merit of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

" (Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg).

Personal life

Gauthier was married to a German woman. As of 2013 he had two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gauthier, Eric Canadian male ballet dancers Canadian choreographers 1977 births Living people Entertainers from Montreal Date of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg