GIOCONDA BARBUTO
Toronto-born Gioconda Barbuto initially trained with Gladys Forrester and
continued her training on full scholarships at the Banff Centre for the Arts
and the Professional Program of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She has danced
with the Minnesota Dance Theatre and was a soloist with Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens until 1996.
Over the course of her long career, Gioconda distinguished herself in an impressive
number of works by choreographers such as George Balanchine, John Butler,
Nacho Duato, Michel Fokine, Jirí Kylián, James Kudelka, Ginette
Laurin, José Limon, Hans van Manen, Brian MacDonald, Mark Morris, Ohad
Naharin, Fernand Nault and Antony Tudor.
After sixteen years with Les Grand Ballets Canadiens, Gioconda is now an
independent dancer/choreographer. She has performed with Danse Théâtre
de Montréal, Fortier Danse-Création and Margie Gillis.
With the grants awarded to her by the Canada Council, Gioconda went on to
create and perform projects with Danse-Cité. In recognition of her
talent as a choreographer, Gioconda won the Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award
in 1996. Her works can be seen in the repertoire of Les Grand Ballets Canadiens,
Alberta Ballet, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Ballet Jörgen, The Kiss
Project, Arts Umbrella and on the television network BRAVO.
Gioconda joined Nederlands Dans Theater III in June 1998,and continues to
dance with the company as well as pursue her own projects.