Natalie Lefebvre Gnam
Natalie Lefebvre Gnam
Natalie Lefebvre Gnam is an award-winning contemporary dance artist, movement educator and arts administrator based in Vancouver. Born in Prince George, BC, to an extensive French Canadian family, Natalie received her early training at Judy Russell’s Enchainment Dance Studio and later at L’École Superieure de Ballet du Québec in Montreal. From 1997, she has worked with Le Jeune Ballet du Québec, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, dancersdancing, The Vancouver Opera, Coleman Lemieux & Co and Vancouver’s MACHiNENOiSY.
Natalie is the artistic producer of plastic orchid factory – an artist-run, interdisciplinary performance company founded in 2008, in partnership with dance artist, James Gnam. Working closely with James and plastic orchid’s board of directors, Natalie performs in and produces the company’s work, while always looking to cultivate an environment which supports an artist-centrered practice. In 2009, James and Natalie were named as the emerging artists at the Mayor’s Arts Award for Dance in Vancouver by the late Lola McLaughlin. Natalie was also the recipient of the 2009 Isadora Duncan Award for Excellence for her performance in endORPHIN, plastic orchid factory’s first evening length work.
As an educator and mentor to developing artists, Natalie has taught ballet and contemporary technique at Arts Umbrella, The Parksville Ballet School, The Richmond Arts Centre, Modus Operandi Training Program and in various communities across British Columbia. She is certified in Conditioning-with-Imagery Training – a dynamic training, rehabilitation and injury prevention program designed especially for physical people.
As an arts administrator, Natalie has worked in Development at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, under the guidance of Cindy Reid and Susan Howard; as programming coordinator at Arts Umbrella; an associate with Eponymous and DanceHouse and currently as operation managers for Vancouver theatre company, Fight With a Stick (formerly Leaky Heaven Performance). Natalie has been invited to participate in conference and dialogue opportunities, most recently at the PuSh Festival’s Critical Ideas: Vancouver Dance Aesthetics panel. She is the chair of the Training Society of Vancouver, and holds a DEC honours in Dance from Le Cégep du Vieux Montréal and an Advanced Certificate (distinction) in Arts Management from Capilano University.
