Biography

Gabrielle Nankivell’s immersive projects and atmospheric performance works are known for their vivid choreography, attention to detail and evocative combinations of the mundane and the bizarre.

Gabrielle is a fierce advocate for intergenerational collaboration and the activation of knowledge through experimental, shared practice. Interested in creative process as a site of experimentation, negotiation and collaboration, Gabrielle is curious about generating encounters that can navigate the physical, conceptual and cultural distances between people. She is captivated by the proxemics of this shared reality and the emergent stories that live here.

Working independently as a choreographer, collaborator, facilitator and performer, Gabrielle’s work spans mainstage theatrical performances, participatory social practice projects, site-responsive works and transdiciplinary strategies for collaboration. She has been commissioned to create new works for Sydney Dance Company, Brisbane Festival, Australasian Dance Collective, Dancenorth, Vitalstatistix, The Mill, Queensland Ballet, Frontier Danceland Singapore and to develop research projects, workshops and performances in many academic, training and festival contexts.

Gabrielle’s work has been widely presented across Australia, Europe and Asia by Adelaide Festival Centre, Arts House (Melbourne), Brisbane Powerhouse, Cankarjev Dom (Slovenia), Carriageworks (Sydney), Esplanade Theatres (Singapore), Festival d’automne (France), High Fest Yerevan (Armenia), Klapstuk (Belgium), Lyric Theatre (Hong Kong), Roslyn Packer Theatre (Sydney), Le Théâtre National de la Danse Chaillot (Paris), Theatre Royal Hobart, The Joyce (NYC), The Place (London) & Vitalstatistix (Port Adelaide) amongst others.

As a performer Gabrielle has worked with Australian Dance Theatre, Alexander Baervoets (BE), Chunky Move/Gideon Obarzanek, Jurij Konjar (SLO), Maxine Doyle (UK), The Farm, Thomas Steyaert (BE), Raul Maia (PT) & Ultima Vez/Wim Vandekeybus (BE) performing worldwide.

Gabrielle is the recipient of multiple scholarships, the inaugural Keith Bain Choreographic Travel Fellowship, Tanja Liedtke Fellowship (2015) and Arts South Australia Fellowship (2019). She was Artist in Residence at Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (2017), Sydney Dance Company’s inaugural Training Associate (2021) and part of Australasian Dance Collective’s Artistic leadership team (2022/3).