Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company announces an upcoming presentation of Framing Ménerbes in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the University of Michigan on October 25th at 5PM. The screening will be followed by a Q&A, at 6PM, with Daniel Gwirtzman and guest Charli Brissey. Admission is free. For information lease visit https://smtd.umich.edu/event/25-october-2025-2/.

Daniel Gwirtzman has a long history with The University of Michigan, having graduated with a BFA in Dance from the Department of Dance in 1992. Since then he has worked at the University as a faculty member, guest instructor and guest choreographer for the Department, choreographing for the Power Center for the Performing Arts in 2008. He is currently Chair of the University’s School of Music, Theater, and Dance Alumni Board.

CHOREOGRAPHER DONALD BYRD ON FRAMING MÉNERBES:
“I think the first thing I thought was how beautiful the place is and how lucky those people are to live there. And I also thought that you think it’s beautiful too. The beauty of the place was seductive but not in a kind of sinister way, it had a sweetness about the seductiveness of the place, and I thought that that’s what you were responding to, that emotional sense of a place, how you felt being there, how you felt being around and with those people, and in a sense it felt a bit like a valentine to them. And so I think that was an interesting way to engage with it. I’m an artist too, so most of us, we make things about ourselves. Not that I’m saying that ‘yourself’ was not in it, but you were sharing yourself in terms of how you perceived these people, and with us as a result of that. There are things about it that I found for that reason moving. I found it moving because you have a kind of generosity that way, with the people and the place. That generosity always moves me. I’m not a particularly generous person. So when I see generosity in other people I’m kind of touched by it. I was touched by that. You are, I would say, an abstract, non-linear thinker and the film is kind of an abstract non-linear piece. And what that does I think is it invites us as a viewer to make our own connections. And I like that. You don’t tell us what to think, what to feel, any of that stuff. And I really appreciate that.”

Framing Ménerbes frames a stunning village in Provence, its natural beauty of far-reaching vistas, mountains, vineyards, and the light for which it is known, taken in through the prism of choreographer, filmmaker, and dancer Daniel Gwirtzman, celebrating thirty years as a New York City artist in 2025. The film combines the vicarious excitement of a travelogue with a documentary-like portrait of an artist’s creative process, immersing the viewer into the picturesque landscapes, charming architecture, and beauty of dance. Daniel shot each frame of the film, capturing the dancer who has been with him the longest, himself! A dozen participants from the region joined as performers in this film which illuminates the inspiration to produce art. The film had its European (France) and US (NYC) premieres in June 2025.

SAYS DANIEL ABOUT FRAMING MÉNERBES:
“I was given a huge gift and I ran with it, following the sun’s trajectory and exploiting it to shoot. Days were long because the days were long. I was up before the sun rose and after it sunk late at night. Knowing the time was limited I pushed myself to get out, into some precarious places at times, and create. Most happily, bounding into Provence with this energy and friends I had met the first time I was there in 2016, there was a level of support, which spread out within the village; sixteen participants who were intrigued answered the pied piper’s call. The goal of each day was to highlight a place that could be lit by the sun. A gift to chase it and be so inspired. Framing Ménerbes is the result of this. As a dancer, to be in this shape at this age was a gift as well. I was pushed and I answered my own call as a choreographer. The excitement of this synergy undergirds the film.”

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Direction, Choreography, Filming, Editing: Daniel Gwirtzman
Cast: Daniel Gwirtzman, Philippe Anthoine, Franck Benel, Ophélie Brisset, Mireille Cartet, Virginie Cornet-Butcher, Isabelle Ducimetière, Myris Mouisson, Paulina Nourissier-Muhlstein, Nancie Piskor, Sven Slazenger, Susanne Turner
Original Score: Jeff Story
Production: Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, Dora Maar Cultural Center

Lightning sometimes does strike twice. Daniel Gwirtzman has the sole distinction of being the only dance artist to receive a fellowship from the Dora Maar Cultural Center in Provence, France. This past June he received a second. Since the residency’s inception in 2006, more than 300 artists and writers have been awarded 25 National Endowment for the Arts Grants, 18 Fulbright Fellowships, 11 Rockefeller Foundation awards, 19 PEN writing awards, among many other accolades. The Center offers artists’ residencies for “individuals of exceptional vision to produce enduring works of art, literature and scholarship.”

Daniel was in residence for five weeks last June and describes this period as an unusually prolific time, living in a house Picasso acquired for his longtime muse and lover, the famed surrealist painter and photographer Dora Maar. He developed an extensive series of dance photography, all self-portraiture, filmed in situ, in beautiful Provence. The unique setting of this landscape, renowned for centuries to artists, coupled with the choreographic imprint, has yielded a unique trove of vibrant visual imagery.