Emerging Artist Savannah Gillespie

Photo by Breda Kent

Artist Statement 

As a choreographer, I am often inspired and driven by music or sound and generally create work with a strong sense of musicality. In my own dance practice I enjoy working with a movement vocabulary that appears effortless and flows seamlessly from one movement to the next. However, in my choreography I like to explore the contrast between functional and athletic movement, as I find the product of this exploration to have endless possibilities. What interests me as a dance artist is not seeing my choreography executed perfectly but instead seeing how it can evolve and change to allow for each dancers’ individuality to be seen. I am extremely passionate about what makes us distinct and complex human beings and how these complexities can be exhibited through movement. In addition to this I am also interested in observing our genuine and complex human relationships and cultivating this connection on stage. I am intrigued by dancers not just as movers but as unique and distinctive people. I do not aim to make everyone look the same but instead to highlight the diversities of the dancers. My work will often begin with a phrase or idea that can be translated into gestural movement and abstracted again and again until it may only barely resemble the starting place. I find that creating gestural phases brings focus back to the idea that we are humans before we are dancers. Although I often generate choreography from a place of deep fascination or emotion I do not always intend for this emotion to be translated to the audience. I use it simply as a starting place and from there I allow my work to become what it wants to be without asking why.  

Biography

Photo by Laura Coons of "Masked"

Savannah Gillespie was born and raised just outside of Vancouver, BC in the small town of Delta. At the age of three she began taking ballet and has never stopped since. At a young age, Savannah began training competitively in several other diverse styles of dance such as jazz, tap, contemporary, hip hop and musical theatre. After graduating high school, Savannah made the life altering decision to further her dance education by attending Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts, where she is currently continuing to pursue her love of art and dance. In addition to having the chance to learn from a wide range of highly successful dance professors, SFU has given Savannah the opportunity to work with established local and international dance artists such as Company 605, Josh Beamish, Chengxin Wei, Yossi Berg, Oded Graf, and many others. Coming from a small town, having the opportunity to be so deeply immersed in a broader dance community was inspirational and eye-opening. In recent years, Savannah has been focusing on her choreographic practice and exploring new interests such as film and human emotion in order to inspire her artistic process. Savannah’s most recent works “Masked” and “Bypass” were shown as part of the student produced show “Meraki” at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. In addition to her artistic endeavours, Savannah has also become extremely passionate about teaching and currently teaches as several studios in the Lower Mainland. Upon her graduation from SFU in the spring of 2019 she plans to remain in Vancouver and continue to pursue both dancing and choreographing as well as teaching.