The Juilliard Dance Division—celebrating its 50th anniversary this season—presents a series of workshops titled “The Art of the Performer” on December 14, 15, 17, and 18 at 8 p.m. in the Juilliard Theater. Along with pieces by Juilliard student choreographers, the work of two outstanding modern choreographers will be presented: world-renowned Canadian artist Margie Gillis will be featured in works from her extensive repertoire, and faculty member Pat Catterson dances in her new piece with Juilliard students.

Margie Gillis performs her Torn Roots, Broken Branches. (Photo by Annie Leibovitz)

Margie Gillis has developed something of a cult following over the past two decades. The daughter of two former Olympic skiers and younger sister of the late Christopher Gillis (a former principal dancer with Paul Taylor), Gillis has carved out a unique niche as an evocative solo performer who has been compared to (among other things) “a human thunderstorm.” Tom Patrick, a dancer and critic who has followed Gillis’s career for many years, lets Juilliard audiences in on the treat that awaits them. (An accompanying article about Pat Catterson appears in this issue.)

In our dizzying-fast world, dance surges forward too, and every year more hopefuls start their training or enter the dance-job market. Many will freely admit the “lasting” impressions of witnessed impossible extensions, freakish flexibility, an abundance of pirouettes... . How many times do we hear and exchange these raves over so-and-so with those feet, that whatever? Many times we see dancers going at it, and can safely assume some of their influences. The aforementioned “qualities” and their disciples are of marginal interest to me. I don’t try to see dancing that resembles the Olympic Games. I find the connections more interesting, how a person is living in his or her performance, and technical trickery is a thin refuge from my scrutiny. Not that I’m unappreciative of the work behind it (and a little jealous too as a dancer!), but most often I’m much more interested in seeing those who take their dancing inspiration from Margie Gillis.

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I have for years now enjoyed the concerts I’ve seen of Juilliard’s dancers, coming out inspired every time. The school has a tremendous department developing terrific repertory, high production quality, and personnel onstage tuned for great deep power. So many alums are in all the major companies, and that comes from their readiness in the wake of the potent teachings they receive. Margie Gillis’s work is an excellent element to include in their process, another intensification of expression beyond and beneath technique.

I will simply say that it is a constant source of voyeuristic pleasure and education to be able to see Margie’s work. She’s a national treasure of Canada and enjoys worldwide engagements as a touchstone of interpretation. I am always astonished by her honesty and vividness on stage—a bi-lingual goddess interpreting divine mysteries with huge aplomb, humor, and pain. I won’t belabor the oft-made comparisons to “predecessors” like Loie Fuller and a certain Ms. Duncan, but for people who only hear about them from dance history shelves, Ms. Gillis’s work is a chance to see a living legend in the field. She is, quite simply, like no one else. She seems constantly as if a new “prime” is upon her—a strong, vigorous and sculpted woman, topped by a long cascade of fiery red hair... looking eternal, heroic, and fresh. The suppleness and sensuality of her spine, her sure-footedness, and a remarkable clarity of gesture make any concert of Margie Gillis’s a must-see.

Her dances, if I must generalize, usually capitalize upon a healthy dose of her forte: interpretation. Be it a soul-stretching performance of the deft Bloom solo or a purely musical experience of the ecstatic Slipstream, I’ve seen Margie manifest Poetry, and all the memory, immediacy, tenderness, and violence that the word encompasses.

Bearing her soul, she invites audiences on a journey we often eschew unaccompanied. She’s brave, not shrinking away from matters of the heart… unwilling to hole up in the cerebrum, she accesses the regions nearer the solar plexus, the place from which we laugh or cry. As a dancer and dance-goer, I’ve gotten a lot of formative exposure to Margie Gillis and her stage art, chiefly through my fortunate proximity to her brother Christopher, while both of us were in the Paul Taylor Company. Truly these and every instance since have been influential.

With her wits, her heart, and her art, she treats us in the seats to amazingly clear and deep portraiture of many souls—hers, ours, and other characters. Immediately it’s understandable how such a woman, aided only by costume, lights, and score, can hold us spellbound throughout the performance. It is because there simply is no one else like her. If you’re tired of inferences or suggestions or promises, get your weary eyes and heavy heart to the next venue hosting work by Margie Gillis, for a big dose of being instead of just seeming. She’ll remind you of that essential, motive force that can make dancing a transformative experience and raise dance-viewing above mere witnessing, into the realm of communion.

And couldn’t we all benefit from more of that?

Tom Patrick has been a dancer in New York—and a fan of Margie Gillis—since 1989. He currently works in three departments at the Metropolitan Opera and writes for the danceinsider.com.