Gillis was born in Montreal as the eldest daughter of two Olympic skiers. She trained with May O'Donnell, Linda Rabin, Lynda Raino, and Allan Wayne, but is noted for having developed her own personal style and technique. She has said of her approach, "I dance from the inside out, then I work on the technical methods of body alignment and form. I try to strike a universal chord with my characterizations and I try, most of all, to dance with integrity, and to use dance as a kind of catharsis to express joy, sorrow, uncertainty."

KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
Margie Gillis
c/o Linda Foy
Margie Gillis Dance Foundation
Suite 502
3575 boul. St-Laurent
Montreal, QC
H2X 2T7
514-845-3115 or 819-322-7033 (tel)
514-845-3424 or 707-313-2828 (fax)
lfoy@margiegillis.org

HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
(name and contact info, relationship to the artist and the work, assessment):
Margie Gillis

VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
(location, format, condition, assessment):
The Dance Collection of the New York Public Library has 23 entries for Gillis, including the following pertinent videotapes:

Margie Gillis: Wild Hearts in Strange Times (1996)—documentary by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; produced, conceived, and written by Veronica Tennant; directed by Joan Tosoni; includes interview footage of Margie Gillis discussing her late brother Christopher, and an excerpt of The Heaven I Cannot See (1994) as well as nine other works in excerpt; VHS (57 min.); call number MGZIA 4-3128.

Salute to Dancers for Life (1994)—telecast of a benefit performance presented onstage by Dancers for Life, and screened by CBC Television as a special presentation in tribute to World AIDS Day on 1 December; includes excerpt of Gillis's Torn Roots, Broken Branches; directed by Joan Tosoni ; VHS (51 min); call number MGZIA 4-3209.

PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
(location, format, condition, assessment):
A photograph by Tom Brazil of Window of Loss accompanies the Jack Anderson review of that piece (see below).

MOVEMENT NOTATION
(location, type [including notes taken by dancers], assessment):
None identified.

PRODUCTION MATERIALS
(scores, sound recordings, set/costume designs):
Gillis holds all production materials.

ORAL HISTORY:
None identified.

PERSONAL PAPERS
(location of newspaper clippings, printed programs, press releases, notes, files, diaries; assessment):
The Dance Collection of the New York Public Library holds a clippings file for "Gillis, Margie," call number MGZR.

IMMEDIATE NEEDS
(archival assistance? storage? other?):
None identified.

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
Jon Mensinger was born 9 February 1957 and died 13 September 1994.

OVERVIEW OF WORKS PERTAINING TO HIV/AIDS
(title, premiere date, music, production notes, performers):

Window of Loss (1993)—choreography by Joao Mauricio, Margie Gillis, and Christopher Gillis; premiered Quebec City 9 November; music by Jacques Brel; performed by Mauricio and Margie Gillis.

Torn Roots Broken Branches (1993)—choreography by Margie Gillis; premiered at DIFFA benefit 18 October; music by Sinead O'Connor; solo performed by Margie Gillis.

The Heaven I Cannot See (1995)—choreography by Margie Gillis and Paola Styron; premiered at Joyce Theater, New York City; music by Henry Purcell ("Dido's Lament" from Dido and Aeneas) and Gustav Mahler ("Urlicht" from Des Knaben Wunderhorn), sung by Jessye Norman; performed by Gillis and Styron.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Anderson, Jack. 1997. "Soulful Poses, and Subjects Like Molly Bloom and Angels" [review of Window of Loss]. New York Times (13 May): C12.
• Hering, Doris. 1991. "Separate Roads, One Journey: The Gillises..." Dance Magazine (August): 33-37.
• Jowitt, Deborah. 1995. "From the North" [review of performance by Margie Gillis]. Village Voice (7 March): 79.
• Kisselgoff, Anna. 1995. "Saying Goodbye: The Uses of Grief" [review of Margie Gillis's and Paola Styron's The Heaven I Cannot See]. New York Times (16 February): B2.