About

Catherine Galasso is an independent choreographer and director based in Brooklyn, NY. Her interdisciplinary dance works have been presented by venues in the US such as Danspace Project, La MaMa, SFMoMA, and MoCA Santa Barbara, and internationally at Bibliotheque National in Paris, France; Skena UP in Pristina, Kosovo; and Zona D Studio in Bucharest, Romania. In addition, she creates original performance works for alternative spaces such as underground bank vaults, apple orchards, decaying 4-story homes, and grand marble staircases.

​Galasso’s work has been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, Headlands Center, Kaatsbaan and ODC Theater in San Francisco, among others. Her collaboration with choreographer Andy de Groat (GET DANCING) was nominated for a New York “Bessie” and her Alone Together was awarded a San Francisco "Izzie." Her Bring On The Lumière! about cinema pioneers the Lumière Brothers was featured in the Oxford Handbook of Screendance Studies. The New York Times called her 2015 rendition of Jim Neu’s musical comedy The Floatones (with co-director Keith McDermott) “...very nearly unclassifiable and utterly delightful;” while her 2018 Alone Together was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “...a treasure chest so packed with jewels that the lid won’t stay down.”

​Galasso also works as a choreographer for theater & opera, creating dances for the US premiere of The Miracle of Heliane (dir Christian Rath, 2019 Bard SummerScape), for the internationally touring interactive theater troupe TPO of Italy (COLORS, dir Davide Venturini, 2019 Brooklyn Academy of Music), and has assisted Annie-B Parson on David Lang’s The Public Domain (Mostly Mozart Festival 2016, Lincoln Center). Galasso is the daughter of internationally acclaimed composer Michael Galasso. She holds a European Baccalaureate in Painting from the Istituto Statale d’Arte in Venice, Italy, and a BA in Film from Cornell University.

CV

Education

BA in film studies     ​Cornell University, USA 2002-2006
visiting scholar     san Francisco art institute, USA 2005 
EUROPEAN BACCALAUREATE     ISTITUTO STATALE D'ARTE DI VENEZIA, IT 1998-2002 

AWARDS

San Francisco “Izzie” Award  Outstanding Achievement in Performance: Alone Together 2019
New York “Bessie” Nomination Outstanding Revival: GET DANCING 2016
San Francisco “Izzie” Nomination Sound Design: Bring On The Lumiére! 2012
SKENA UP PRIZE, PRISTINA KOSOVO most original production: LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES THE SAME PLACE TWICE 2002
​

Residencies

Guild Hall William P. Raynor residency 2022​
Snug Harbor, Staten Island    2021-22
PS21, Chatham NY   2020    
Gibney Dance-in-Process (DiP)  2019-20
The Watermill Center, Company Residencies   2013, 2015, 2021
Brooklyn Arts Exchange  2016-18
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council  2009 (Swing Space), 2015-2017 (Extended Life) Kaatsbaan International Dance Center   2015
Studio Zona D, Bucharest ROMANIA  2014 (via New York Live Arts Suitcase Fund)
Chez Bushwick, NY   2013
Headlands Center for the Arts, Marin CA  2011
Atlantic Center for the Arts, Florida    2008, 2010
ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA  2008-2011

​

GRANTS & COMMISSIONS

New York State Council on the Arts  2018, 2021
Foundation for Contemporary Art Emergency Grant    2021
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Commission   2019
River To River Festival Commission   2015, 2018
ODC Theater Commission    2011, 2018
Arts Brookfield Commission  2018
Danspace Project Commissioning Initiative  2015
Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation    2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant      2014
Zellerbach Family Foundation Grant   2009, 2011        
San Francisco Foundation Commission   2010

LIST OF DANCE WORKS
​

DANCES FOR DOING
(4 performers, 20 min)
​Commissioned by BoxBlur and San Francisco Dance Film Festival for an exhibition of work by Jen Bervin
Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA (May-June 2021)
​
FIELD NOTES: OUTDOOR DANCES FOR THIS 21ST CENTURY
(4 performers, 35 minutes)
Live, site-specific outdoor performance for socially-distant audiences PS21
SEPTEMBER 2020: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century, Chatham, NY

CLOUD DANCE 2.0
(2 performers and video projection, 15 minutes)
Commissioned by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center for an exhibition of work by Lenore Tawney
2019: JM Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan WI

ALONE TOGETHER
(7 performers, 55 minutes)
Commissioned by ODC Theater
2018: ODC Theater San Francisco, CA

OF GRANITE AND GLASS: PALM SPRINGZ
(4 core performers, chorus of 9, 50 minutes)
Co-commissioned by Brookfield Place and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
2018: River To River Festival, NYC

OF IRON AND DIAMONDS v1
(5 performers and a baby, 45 minutes)
Supported by the BAX AIR Residency Brooklyn Arts Exchange (June 2017)

NOTES ON DE GROAT
(4 performers, 23 minutes) 
Commissioned by Danspace Project
Created as part of GET DANCING program IN collaboration with choreographer Andy de Groat
2015: Danspace Project, NYC
2018: Bard Graduate Center, NYC 
2019: JM Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan WI
2021: Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY 

FALL OF THE REBEL ANGELS: X
(5 performers, 50 min)   
Commissioned by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council & RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL
2015: House 19A, Governors Island, NYC

THE FLOATONES
(4 performers, 50 minutes)
Co-director, choreographer and producer
New production of a 1995 play written by the late Jim Neu
2015: The Club at La MaMa, NYC

FALL OF THE REBEL ANGELS: VESPERS
(5 performers, 50 min)
2014: Private residence in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NYC 

BRING ON THE LUMIÈRE!
(2011-2012, 2 dancers with 20+ ensemble cast, 70 minutes) 
Commissioned by ODC Theater
2011: ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA
2012: Joyce SoHo, NYC 
202: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
(2011, 4 dancers, 45 min) 
Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA

SHOW ME THE MONEY
(2009, 6 dancers, 65 minutes)
LMCC Swing Space at 14 Wall St, NYC

LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES THE SAME PLACE TWICE
(4 dancers, 40 minutes) 
2006: SkenaUP Intl. Theater & Film Festival, Pristina KOSOVO
2009: San Francisco Film Society, SF, CA 


Photo credits:
Jordan D. Lloyd and Mei Yamanaka in Of Granite and Glass, Palm Springz, photo by Hayim Heron 2018
Catherine Galasso, photo by Laura Brichta 2019