Gaspard Louis is a Haitian dancer, choreographer, and artistic director. A former dancer with

Pilobolus ''Pilobolus'' is a genus of fungi that commonly grows on herbivore dung. Life cycle The life cycle of ''Pilobolus'' begins with a black sporangium that has been discharged onto a plant substrate such as grass. A herbivorous animal such as a h ...

, he is the founder and artistic director of the

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

company Gaspard and Dancers. Louis is also on the faculty at

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliati ...

and the

American Dance Festival The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also ho ...

Early life and education

Louis was born in

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. He immigrated to the United States when he was thirteen years old, living in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. Louis did not start training as a dancer until college. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public un ...

through a partnership program at the

. He continued his dance studies as a scholarship student with Giordano Dance Chicago and the Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab in New York. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance from

Hollins University Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, Virginia, Botetourt Springs, it is Timeline of women's colleges in the Un ...

Career

After finishing his undergraduate studies, Louis joined the New York-based dance company AllNations, where he performed traditional world dances. He was a company member with

for ten years and also collaborated on the choreography for nine major dance works with the company. He has also guest taught for dance programs at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, and

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, the university is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or ...

. He later joined the faculty at North Carolina Central University. Louis formed his own company, titled Gaspard and Dancers, in 2009 which is based in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. He and his company have performed at the Wake Forest Dance Festival, the Cape Fear Stage in Wilmington, the

North Carolina Museum of Art The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It opened in 1956 as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by state legislation and funding. Since the initial 1947 appropriation that ...

, the North Carolina Dance Festival, the

, and in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. In 2012 Louis choreographed a trilogy of works, titled ''L’Espirit'', ''Souke'' and ''Annatations'', in response to the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

. The works focused on dealing with tragedy and the human response to it. The trilogy was performed at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts in September 2015. It was later presented at the 18th annual International Festival of Contemporary Dance in

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and at the American Dance Festival. Louis has also worked with Justin Tornow who, with himself, he set a duet on called ''Forbidden'' which was performed at Duke University. In September 2019 he and his company performed at Elon University as part of the Lyceum Series. The show had political undertones, focusing on

immigration in the United States Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and Culture of the United States, cultural change throughout much of history of the United States, its history. As of January 2025, the United States has the la ...

. He has also choreographed for Free Space Dance Company in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and the

Kentucky University The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

Dance Ensemble. Louis has served on the faculty at the American Dance Festival, serving as the director of the Creative Movement Outreach Program.

Personal life

Louis married Jodee Nimerichter in October 2005. They have two children, named Dahlia and Preston. They split their time between homes in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis, Gaspard Living people 20th-century dancers 21st-century dancers African-American choreographers American choreographers African-American male dancers American male dancers Arts administrators Contemporary dance choreographers Contemporary dancers Dance in North Carolina Haitian dancers Haitian emigrants to the United States Male dancers Modern dancers Hollins University alumni Montclair State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people