Zvi Gotheiner

Zvi Gotheiner

Zvi Gotheiner was born and raised in Israel. He began his artistic career as a gifted violinist with the Young Kibbutzim Orchestra, where he attained the rank of soloist and Concertmaster at age 15. He began dancing at 17, and soon after formed his first performance group. He first came to New York in 1978 on a dance scholarship from the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation, and went on to dance with the Joyce Trisler Dance Company, Feld Ballets/NY, and the Bat-Sheva Dance Company. After directing Tamar Ramle and the Jerusalem Tamar Dance Companies in Israel and the Israeli Chamber Dance Company in New York, he founded ZviDance (previously: Zvi Gotheiner & Dancers) in 1989. The Company’s performances have received critical acclaim in New York City at The Kitchen, The Joyce Theater, Joyce Soho, The Fiorello Festival, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, and Central Park’s SummerStage, as well as a variety of experimental venues.
Zvi is a recipient of two New York Foundation for the Arts choreography fellowships and The National Arts Club Weiselberg Award, and has received commissions from Zurich Tanz Theater, Utah’s Repertory Dance Theater, Colloquium Contemporary Dance Exchange, the American Dance Festival, and three times by The Joyce Theater’s Altogether Different series. Zvi has earned an international reputation as a ballet teacher. In New York, he serves as a company teacher for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and teaches ballet regularly at City Center.
“There is no way looking back at the way my life and career has been shaped without acknowledging the major role AICF played in giving it a clear direction and validating its creative core. AICF was there when I made my
infant dance step, giving me a stipend to start my formal dance education. And then later, as a professional dancer, awarded me a life-changing grant to expand my horizons in New York City, where I made my first choreographic exploration.”