For decades, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company has pulled back the curtain on how dance is made. This June, they open the studio doors wider than ever — inviting participants in for an intimate conversation about the creative process behind their newest work. The Company will be In The Studio at New York City Center (131 W. 55th Street, New York, NY 10019) on June 25 at 1pm and June 26 at 3pm. To reserve free tickets, advance tickets are required, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-the-studio-daniel-gwirtzman-dance-company-at-new-york-city-center-tickets-1987738070076.

Hear directly from the dancers about what drives and challenges them and from choreographer Daniel Gwirtzman about the ideas shaping the work. Then it’s your turn: ask questions, share your thoughts, and become part of the conversation. No stage. No distance. Just dance, up close. A rare chance to meet the art before it meets the stage. Free and open to all. Seats are limited.

To view the trailer, visit https://vimeo.com/1184531239.

Says the choreographer, who has been publicly out as a queer artist since he began showing his work professionally in New York circa 1995:

“Scheduled to align with New York City’s PRIDE, In The Studio features the same-sex partnering for which DGDC has been known since our inception. Non-heteronormative coupling has been a trademark of the Company’s repertory. Highlighted rep that features gender parity and disrupts the leading lady in the arms of the leading man includes Dreamland, danced by Derek Crescenti and Johnny Mathews, as well as sections of the new Flashpoint, danced by Vanessa Martínez de Baños and Madison Hertel. In The Studio will have a festive, vibrant, party atmosphere, a fun way to celebrate the spirit of PRIDE and usher in the weekend.”

ABOUT DANIEL GWIRTZMAN DANCE COMPANY

Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, known for its optimistic ethos, was formed in 1998. Since its inception, it has demonstrated a commitment to education, operating with the philosophy and programming that everyone can join the dance. Incorporating dance and story into the film medium has been a consistent practice along with creating original programming for the stage. The repertory has earned praise for its humor, musicality, stylistic diversity, and accessibility. The Company’s acclaimed creation, “Dance With Us,” a free online educational resource, received leadership support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and is designed to demystify choreography and increase comfort viewing and speaking about dance. The digital resource showcases the Company’s decade-long practice working in the dance for camera genre. Lincoln Center and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts presented the Company in 2023 during its 25th Anniversary season in a stand-alone program called Everybody Can Dance. In the summer of 2024, DGDC was in residence at the American Dance Festival where it developed its newest evening-length dance, Flashpoint. In 2025, the Company’s AI-themed theater/dance work e-Motion, a collaboration with playwright Saviana Stanescu, made its NYC premiere at La MaMa during the La MaMa Moves! Festival, which Culturebot reviewed as “profoundly chilling,” noting Daniel’s performance as “masterful.” Also in 2025, Framing Ménerbes, a film created by the Company in Provence, premiered in France, followed by its US premiere at the Dolby Screening Room in Manhattan. Since then, the film has screened in theaters in Upstate New York—Binghamton, Ithaca, and Rochester—and in Ann Arbor, MI and Vancouver, WA. The film will screen again in Ithaca this June 17. Other highlights include performances at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Kennedy Center, Battery Dance Festival, Fire Island Dance Festival, Bryant Park, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Company will tour its SUMMER MIX program, with six performances July 16-19, 2026: https://kitchentheatre.org/summermix

ABOUT DANIEL GWIRTZMAN

Daniel Gwirtzman begins his fourth decade as a NYC company director and choreographer in 2026. Since co-founding Artichoke Dance Company in 1995, “a welcome addition to the New York Dance scene” (The New York Times), he has choreographed and performed without pause. Reviews from Artichoke’s debut concert earned him comparisons to Mark Morris, by Elizabeth Zimmer in The Village Voice, whose company he toured internationally with over several years as a guest. An artist/scholar, Daniel Gwirtzman is deeply immersed in multiple arenas: as a producer, dancer, educator, and filmmaker known for his blend of innovative and charismatic work. Collaborations blend genres, take risks, involve communities, promote optimism, and celebrate humanity. The New Yorker and The Village Voice describe him as “a choreographer of high spirits and skill,” and “an abundantly inventive artist with a subtle defiance of gender roles.” The New York Times writes “Mr. Gwirtzman does know that in dance less can be more. He can evoke strong feelings with a few gestures.” He has been awarded commissions, residencies, and fellowships nationally and abroad. He is an Associate Professor of Dance at Ithaca College’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance and contributes nationally to the dance education field through his service as a Board Member of the National Dance Education Organization and as Chair of the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance Alumni Board, his alma mater. His dance-theater production e-Motion, delving into the concerns of AI, premiered in 2023 and made its NYC debut in 2025. Spring 2024 he was in residence at the Dora Maar Cultural Center in Provence, France where he produced the dance film Framing Ménerbes, which premiered in France and NYC June, 2025 and has continued to screen since.

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