NAME

Gina Gibney

TITLE

Founder, Director, and CEO of Gibney, a New York City-based arts organization dedicated to dance and social action.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from Case Western Reserve University; graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. 

EXPERIENCE

Gina’s career started as an independent choreographer and quickly evolved with her acquisition of Studio 5-2 at 890 Broadway which immediately became a resource for the community, planting the seeds for what the Gibney organization has become today.

During her 25 years as a choreographer, Gina created intimate, poetic works that explored the humanity and physicality of interpersonal connection, such as Landings (1992), Anchoring (1994), Coming from Quiet (1998), Time Remaining (2003), Thrown (2004), unbounded (2005) and View Partially Obstructed (2009).

With a belief in the vast potential of movement, creativity, and performance to effect personal change and social transformation, Gina established the Gibney organization in Manhattan in 1991.

Today, Gibney’s presenting, training, fellowship and residency programs have served and supported thousands of New York City artists and audiences, and community outreach programs have impacted hundreds of lives, especially in the areas of domestic violence, economic inequality, and workforce development.

Gibney Company, has grown from a small troupe of dancers presenting Gina Gibney’s choreography into a critically acclaimed internationally touring contemporary dance company dedicated to commissioning and presenting today’s most compelling choreographers.

Gibney operates two New York City locations—280 Broadway near City Hall and 890 Broadway above Union Square—encompassing 23 studios and five performing spaces that serve as a nexus for a diverse and expansive artistic community.

HONORS

Gina was inducted into the Vanity Fair Hall of Fame in 2008 for “making art and taking action.”

She has served as a Trustee of the national dance advocacy organization Dance/USA and received its Ernie Award in 2017 in recognition of her role as a changemaker in the field.

Gina is a founding member of the Board of Directors of Dance/NYC and is a member of The Women’s Forum of New York.

She was included in Dance Magazine’s 2017 list of The Most Influential People in Dance Today and was named to the Out100 2016 list of influential members of the LGBT community

In 2018 Gina received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Case Western Reserve University, and in 2019 was awarded the Floria Lasky Award from the Jerome Robbins Foundation and the Plus Factor Award from the string quartet ETHEL.

INTERESTS

Gina is known for pioneering innovative new programs which connect the arts with the broader community. Her work has impacted the lives of thousands of domestic violence survivors through programs like Move to Move Beyond, an evidence-based program that offers the transformative power of movement to survivors of gender-based violence and their families.

Her Moving Toward Justice incubator uses art as a tool for activism and social impact with a focus on entrepreneurship, social engagement, and mobilization alongside artistry. Other innovative programs include the Dance in Process (DiP) Residency. One of the first programs of its kind, DiP provides extensive, holistic support for mid-career New York-based dance artists who are in the middle stages of work on a new project.

Gina Gibney is a frequent panelist and speaker on topics of dance, entrepreneurship, and arts-community partnerships.