Eric Gauthier

It only took Eric Gauthier a few years to make it from charismatic soloist of the Stuttgart Ballet to high-profile international choreographer and artistic director of one of Germany's most successful companies. Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart is the German Highlight in the yearbook 2022 of the specialist magazine tanz. The company’s artists in residence are Hofesh Shechter and Barak Marshall.

Top companies worldwide have taken Gauthier's works into their repertoire, amongst others the Staatsballett Berlin, the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam or Het Nationale Ballet Amsterdam. He is also known for his forays into other genres, for example with choreographies for the stage show of panda rapper Cro, the cinema hit Mackie Messer – Brecht's Threepenny Film (2018), the Keep on Dancing campaign of the fashion company Marc Cain or the Grand Show ARISE at the Friedrichstadtpalast Berlin (both in 2021). Moreover, Gauthier can now also be seen in front of the camera – as the presenter and dance expert of the SWR documentary series Dance Around the World, which takes the television audience to the world's great dance cities. The first three episodes show the dance scenes in Tel Aviv, St. Petersburg and the Netherlands and are available in the media library of the German national channel ARD. Further shoots in London and Cuba are planned for the near future.

Personal kudos for Eric Gauthier include the German Dance Prize »Future« 2011 in the category Choreography as well as two titles in the yearbook of the specialist magazine tanz, as a Great Hope 2016 and in the category Groundbreaking 2022.

As if the meteoric rise of his company weren't enough, Gauthier has now also made a name for himself as a festival maker: In the summer of 2015, the premiere edition of COLOURS International Dance Festival, conceived by Gauthier and produced by Theaterhaus Stuttgart, took the public, the media and the dance world by storm. With an expanded programme in Stuttgart's city centre and an even more prestigious artistic line-up, the biennial event is now one of the most important dance festivals in Europe.

Another initiative by Eric Gauthier has also received great international recognition. The Dying Swans Project comprises 16 short films for the 16 members of the company, realised by 16 choreographers, 16 filmmakers and 16 composers – adding up to 64 artistic participants and 48 external commissions in difficult times. The project, financed with the help of the Daimler network „be a mover“ and numerous organisers, exceeded all expectations and even attracted the attention of the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The visually stunning 16 video clips have been accessible online free of charge since April 2021 – on the Theaterhaus Stuttgart YouTube channel and, thanks to the partnership with ZDF/3sat, in the 3sat and ZDF media libraries. Awards include two Golden Prague Television Awards 2021, the Premio Mario Pasi 2021 for the promotion of dance culture by the Italian specialist magazine Danza&Danza as well as a nomination for the Rose d'Or Award 2021 in the Arts category.

As the son of a leading Alzheimer's researcher, Eric Gauthier has acquired an awareness for social issues early on. The Gauthier Dance Mobile format has brought contemporary dance to youth centres, hospitals or to old people's homes right from the very start. With the establishment of the Gauthier Dance JUNIORS//Theaterhaus Stuttgart at the beginning of 2022 and the MOVES FOR FUTURE initiative under the patronage of football star Jürgen Klinsmann, Theaterhaus and Eric Gauthier have opened a new chapter in the outreach programme.

Eric Gauthier was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg and is a member of the board of trustees of the Alzheimer's Foundation Baden-Wuerttemberg.