Itzik Galili - biography | THE NATIONAL MORAVIAN

Born in Israel, Itzik Galili danced in Bat-Dor Dance Company, Batsheva II and in Batsheva Dance Company, where he started choreographing. Robert Cohan, artistic advisor for the Batsheva Dance Company and artistic director of The London Contemporary Dance Company, encouraged him to attend the Gulbenkian International Course for Professional Composers and Choreographers in the UK. In 1990, Old Cartoon won the originality prize at the Gvanim Choreographic Competition. In 1991, Galili moved to The Netherlands, and formed his own project-based company in Amsterdam. His controversial piece The Butterfly Effect won the Public Prize at the International Competition for Choreographers in Groningen and became his breakthrough piece that earned him international recognition.
In 1997, the ministry of culture appointed him as Artistic Director of a newly founded dance company in Groningen: NND/Galili Dance which, under his direction for more than 11 years, made a name for itself, putting not only the city but also the region of Groningen, Drenthe and Friesland on the dance map. In 1998 and 2001, Galili directed the Groningen International Competition for Choreographers. In 2009, Galili returned to Amsterdam as the co-founder and artistic director of a contemporary dance company, representative for the city of Amsterdam, Dansgroep Amsterdam.

Since 2011, Galili is a guest choreographer on the international dance scene.
From 2016 until 2020, Artistic Director of Curtain Up, an Israel's platform for independent Israeli choreographers, founded and supported by the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport.
Since 2018, Artistic Adviser for the contemporary repertory company, Boston Dance Theater, building a bridge between his artistic networks in Israel and Boston.

Awards
•    I991: Originality prize at the Gvanim Choreographic Competition for “Old Cartoon”.
•    1992: Public Prize at the International Competition for Choreographers in Groningen with his creation The Butterfly Effect
•    1994: Final Selection Culture Award (Phillip Morris), for exceptional talent and contribution to Dutch culture. He is a recipient of the Choreography Prize of the Dutch Association of Theatre and Music Hall Directors for his contribution to the Dutch dance field.
•    2006: Made Knight in the Royal Order of The House of Oranje Nassau by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for his contribution to Dutch dance.
•    2009: Nomination for 3 awards in the UK: Knights of Illumination (for Lighting Design), Critics’ Circle (for Best Modern Choreography), Laurence Olivier (for Best New Production) for his work A Linha Curva (created for Balé da Cidade de São Paulo) premiered by Rambert Dance Company at Sadler’s Wells.

Works by Itzik Galili
Galili has created for and worked with many international dance companies, establishing himself as an important choreographic voice. Among them:
Stuttgart Ballet, Staatsballet Berlin, Gauthier Dance, Bayerisches Staatsoper Munich, Ballett Kiel, Ballet Zurich, Basel Ballet, Ballets de Monte Carlo, English National Ballet, Ballet de l’ Opéra National de Bordeaux, Balé da Cidade, Gulbenkian Ballet, Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ballet Jazz Montréal, Finnish National Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Het Nationale Ballet, Compañía Nacional de Danza, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, National Moravian Silesian Theatre

Opera / Shows
•    Opera co-production of Prince Igor directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov, with The Polovtsian Dances, at the Metropolitan Opera, New York (2014) and the National Opera Ballet, Amsterdam (2017).
•    Co-Director & Choreographer of the Opera Orfeu ed Euridice, at the Israeli Opera, Tel Aviv (2018)
•    Director, Choreographer, Lighting, Set and Costume designer of the Dance Opera, Forever and a Day, creation with the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Vilinius (2019).
•    Director, Choreographer, Lighting Designer of the Opera The Little Cunning Vixen, at NMST Ostrava (2024)
•    Grand Show with Berlin it is for the production THE WYLD at the Friedrichstadt-Palast (2014).

Movies
•    Dance films for television including Come Across (1996 commission for NPS – Nederland) and A Sense of Gravity (2002 commission for BBC2 – UK) and
•    Dance film and live performance creation, Emovere, The Dying Swans Project, Gauthier Dance/Theaterhaus (2021)