Noah D. Gelber

Biography

Noah Gelber was born in New York City and began his dance and singing training there at the age of 5. Alongside 11 years of formation at the School of American Ballet, he attended the High School of Performing Arts and Professional Children's School in New York, performing often with the New York City Ballet. At age 16, Noah became principal guest-artist with the American Ballet Company, dancing numerous principal roles from the Balanchine repertoire. He sang and danced in a New York production of West Side Story before pursuing his career in Europe. After 3 years as a soloist with the Royal Ballet of Flanders, he toured the U.S. and Mexico as a principal guest-artist before William Forsythe invited him to the Frankfurt Ballet.

Noah earned widespread critical acclaim for his speed, dynamism and technical precision, including his ability to excel in the classical ballet genre as well as inspire contemporary choreographers. He was invited to perform in many international Galas, dancing solos and pas de deux created especially for him by William Forsythe and others.

Over a decade of collaboration with William Forsythe, Noah performed the greater portion of the Frankfurt Ballet’s repertoire, notably premiering in the original cast of The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. Fashion designer Issey Miyake featured him on the catwalk in Paris and he has been presented in photographic exhibitions in museums and theaters across Europe.

Well versed in the complex improvisation techniques Forsythe utilizes, Noah was chosen to demonstrate examples of these for the William Forsythe Improvisation Technologies CD-ROM. He is regularly invited to conduct educational workshops teaching these improvisation modalities at various international universities and institutions.

Noah was active in the choreographic processes at the Frankfurt Ballet, creating considerable solo and pas de deux material contained in some Forsythe pieces. He was the first American choreographer ever invited to create a world premier for the Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theater. This story ballet, The Overcoat (after Nikolai Gogol), won 2 ‘Golden Sofit’ awards including Best Ballet of the Year, and a ‘Golden Mask’. His other creations include Object Ours for dancers of the Royal Ballet, Running Time duet, and his own solos Gnos Naos and Opus 3/1-3. Noah also choreographed for the hit TV show Born to Dance in Israel and collaborated with aerial ballerina Erika Lemay for ‘Cirque du Soleil’ and her feature show Animus Femina. His choreographic works have been presented in Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York, London, Milan, Monte Carlo, Montreal, Tallinn, Tel Aviv and Frankfurt.

Since 1997 while still dancing, Noah has maintained the responsibility of Choreographic Assistant for 12 different ballets from William Forsythe's repertoire. The long list of companies with whom he has collaborated includes more than 46 leading ballet companies, among others the Mariinsky Ballet, Perm Tchaikovsky State Ballet, Yekaterinburg State Ballet, etc.