As she has been with much in her rapidly rising career, Andrea Miller was prescient in naming her dance company Gallim, which means waves in Hebrew: Gallim has been making waves internationally since the 31-year-old choreographer created the troupe in 2007. The company makes its BAM debut when it presents the New York return to stage of Miller’s 2009 “Blush” at the BAM Fisher, May 21-26.

Miller made substantial changes to “Blush” following its premiere at Joyce Soho in 2009; the present version represents a fulfillment of its original ideas. Taking place in an abstracted boxing ring roped by a line of footlights that imbue it with mysterious foreboding, “Blush” pulses with a tenacious, energetic theatricality that is the company’s signature. Human emotion — loneliness, anguish, love, support, dependency — is expressed through extreme and distorted movement and gestures, impassioned and fearless, that call upon a multitude of styles. Likewise, the music is an unlikely mix of composers including Chopin, Mannyfingers, Andrej Przybytkowski, Kap Bambino, Arvo Part and Wolf Parade. Referring to the title of the 60-minute dance, the uninhibited physical energy moves in spreading tides like the warm heat of blood that defines a human blush.

Since Gallim first grabbed public and critical attention with performances at Joyce Soho in 2008, the company has performed at New York City Center, The Joyce Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, as well as in major American and European cities.  In addition to BAM Fisher, the company’s 2013 dates include performances at Dancers Workshop, Jackson Hole, Jackson, WY (June 17-July 5); Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT (July 11 & 12); Vail International Dance Festival, Vail, CO (July 28); Guggenheim Works & Process, NYC (September 22 & 23); Peak Performances, September 26-29; University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (October 12); Cascia Hall Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, OK (November 14-17); Festispiele Ludwigshafen, Ludwigshafen, Germany (November 29), and Théatre National de Chaillot, Paris, France (December 4-7). In February 2012, the company established a permanent home, which includes an administrative office and studio space at the The Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew.

Performance Time

Tuesday through Sunday, May 21-26, 2013 at 8pm.

Where To Go

Tickets, which are $20-30, are available at www.bam.org/gallimdance, by calling 718-636-4100, or at the BAM Fisher box office 90 minutes prior to each performance, located at 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, NY.

Artist Bios

ANDREA MILLER, born in Salt Lake City, Utah, trained as a student and performer of Doris Humphrey’s works and solos, under the direction of Ernestine Stodelle and Gail Corbin. She went on to attend the Juilliard School where she received her BFA in Dance in 2004. After graduation, Miller left for Israel to join Ohad Naharin’s Batsheva Ensemble, where she originated roles in Naharin’s “George & Zalman” and resident choreographer Sharon Eyal’s “Part II.” In 2007, Miller returned to New York City and established Gallim Dance. Miller’s highly sought-after works have been commissioned throughout the world. This year, Miller will be creating a new work on Gallim Dance titled “Fold Here,” which will preview at Guggenheim Works & Process and premiere at Montclair’s Peak Performances Series in September 2013. Recent past commissions include “In Media Res,” a piece for Nederlands Dans Theater 2 that premiered at Lucent Danstheater in Den Haag; “Howl,” a dance for Bern:Ballet that was presented at the Royal Opera House in London; and “69° South,” choreography for Phantom Limb that premiered at BAM Next Wave. From 2009 to 2011, Miller served as associate choreographer of Noord Nederlandse Dans, creating two new works for the company. Miller is a founding collaborator of the Movement Invention Program (MIP), with Jill Johnson and Alexandra Wells; MIP, now in its fourth year, is dedicated to teaching improvisation. Miller is also resident choreographer at Dancewave, a pre-professional dance program based in Brooklyn, and she teaches master classes, workshops, and sets work on many conservatories and universities across the world. In April 2011, Miller was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine as a “wild child” of movement invention, and her honors and awards include: Princess Grace Foundation Special Projects Award (2012-2013), Joyce Theater Foundation Choreographer Residency (2012), New York City Center Choreography Fellow (2011-2012), Youth America Grand Prix Award for Emerging Choreographers (2011), Wesleyan University’s Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award (2011), Princess Grace Foundation Works in Progress Award (2010), Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch (2009), Princess Grace Foundation Fellowship in Choreography (2009).

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Gallim Dance is a recipient of the inaugural Brooklyn Academy of Music Professional Development Program. Gallim Dance has received meaningful support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, First Republic Bank, the Tupperware Corporation, and the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation.
Photos by Franziska Strauss. Design by Michael Bonfiglio/EJA.