Daniel Grossman (September 13, 1942 – July 29, 2023) was a Canadian dancer, choreographer, and activist.Michael Crabb

''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', July 31, 2023. He created the Danny Grossman Dance Company which produced his political dances.

Early life and dance career

Daniel Grossman was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on September 13, 1942, to a Polish-Hungarian Jewish father and an Irish Catholic mother. When he was ten he walked his first picket line and remained politically active his whole life. Grossman began folk dancing in grade school but by 1960 he was learning and performing modern dance with Gloria Unti. In 1963 Paul Taylor saw Grossman at a summer course at Connecticut College and invited him to join his dance company. Grossman performed under the stage name "Danny Williams". Grossman remained with the company for ten years.

Move to Toronto

In 1973 Grossman was invited to

Toronto Dance Theatre The Toronto Dance Theatre is a Canadian modern dance company based in Toronto, Ontario. Described by ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' as "one of the foremost modern-dance companies in Canada", the company tours nationally and internationally and regu ...

as a guest artist and remained in Canada ever since. He joined the faculty of

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

and choreographed his first piece, a duet called ''Higher'', in 1975, and established the Danny Grossman Dance Company at York soon afterwards.

Notable works

In 1976 Grossman created his first political satire ''National Spirit'', which was about American patriotism. In 1977 he created his first solo ''Curious Schools of Theatrical Dancing'' which was about a dancing clown in a circus ring. Also in 1977 he collaborated and danced with Judy Jarvis in ''Bella'', a piece inspired by Giacomo Puccini's music and Marc Chagall's paintings of lovers, with production design by Mary Kerr. In 1981 Grossman premiered ''Endangered Species'' at the New York Space and City Centre. The piece was set in a post-apocalyptic world where the dancers fought against military oppression. In the 1990s, funding for the arts diminished in Canada and Grossman sought other ways to sustain his company. Grossman wanted to preserve Canadian dance as an art form by remounting works by famous Canadian choreographers like Patricia Beatty, Judy Jarvis,

Robert Desrosiers Robert Guy Desrosiers (born October 10, 1953) is a Canadian dancer and choreographer. After a brief dance career, he founded the Desrosiers Dance Theatre and choreographed surreal and theatrical dances. After the company’s disbandment, he purs ...

and Peter Randazzo. These revivals were not financially successful and Grossman transitioned the company into an institute for licensing and teaching Grossman's repertoire. Grossman stopped creating new works for the company in 2008. Grossman was profiled in

Moze Mossanen Moze Mossanen is a Canadian independent writer, director and producer who has created a body of critically acclaimed film and TV work blending drama, music, performance and documentary. Most recently, he wrote and directed the documentary featu ...

's 1987 documentary film ''

Dance for Modern Times ''Dance for Modern Times'' is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Moze Mossanen and released in 1987. The film depicts contemporary dance through profiles of the work of choreographers Christopher House, David Earle, James Kudelka, Ginette ...

'', alongside

David Earle David Earle (born 17 September 1939) is a Canadian choreographer, dancer and artistic director. In 1968 Earle was co-founder and co-artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre alongside Patricia Beatty and Peter Randazzo, where Earle choreograp ...

James Kudelka James Kudelka, Order of Canada, OC (born September 10, 1955 at Newmarket, Ontario), is a Canadian choreographer, dancer, and director. He was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1996 to 2005, now serving as the National Ball ...

Ginette Laurin Ginette Laurin C.M. (born in Montreal 3 January 1955) is a Canadian dancer, choreographer and artistic director. In 1984, she founded the dance group named O Vertigo, based in Montreal. O Vertigo is dedicated to creation in new dance and to bro ...

and

Christopher House Christopher House (born May 30, 1955) is a Canadian choreographer, performer and educator. For many years he was the artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre. Early life and education House was born in St.John's, Newfoundland. He moved to Ott ...

.William Littler, "Dance feature puts viewers on stage". ''

'', November 27, 1987.

Activism and political work

Drawing on his activist upbringing, Grossman was involved with many different organisations to promote dance and the arts. Grossman served on the Toronto Arts Council and participated with Toronto's Artsvote campaign to promote local cultural issues. Grossman also promoted dance education by visiting various public schools and post-secondary institutions to teach classes. Grossman, who was gay, sometimes choreographing gay-themed dance works.

Later life and death

Grossman suffered from heart problems for several years. These problems contributed to his death in Toronto on July 29, 2023, at the age of 80.

Awards

Grossman received the Jean A. Chalmers Award for Choreography in 1978 and a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

for Best New Choreography in 1988. In 1998 he received the William Kilbourn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Toronto Arts Awards and the Dance Ontario Award.

References

External links

Danny Grossman archives
and th
Danny Grossman Dance Company archives
held at the

Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections Clara may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Clara'' (2018 film), a Canadian sci-fi drama * ''Clara'' (2019 film), a Ukrainian animated fantasy film * ''Clara'' (TV series), a German TV series * Clara the Cow, mascot of the Greek TV show '' P ...

York University Libraries York University Libraries (YUL) is the library system of York University in Toronto, Ontario. The four main libraries and one archives contain more than 2,500,000 volumes. History The first York library opened in 1961 at Glendon College and ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grossman, Danny 1942 births 2023 deaths Canadian male dancers Modern dancers Canadian choreographers Dora Mavor Moore Award winners 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian gay entertainers Gay dancers LGBTQ choreographers People from San Francisco Canadian LGBTQ dancers Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Canadian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Irish descent