Christopher Gillis

Christopher Gillis (February 26, 1951 – August 7, 1993) was a Canadian dancer and choreographer born in Montreal, Quebec. He came from a family with a strong athletic background: his father, Gene Gillis, was a US Olympic skier, and his mother, Rhona Wurtele, competed as a Canadian Olympic skier at the 1948 Winter Olympics alongside her twin sister Rhoda. His sister, Margie Gillis, is a dancer and choreographer with whom he partnered from childhood and collaborated on numerous productions. His brother, Jere Gillis, played professional hockey between 1977 and 1987 for the Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, Quebec Nordiques, Buffalo Sabres, and Philadelphia Flyers.

Gillis trained under Finis Jhung, Paul Taylor, and choreographers May O'Donnell and Norman Walker, and performed with José Limón's company early in his career. In 1976, the same year he appeared on Broadway in Public Domain, he joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York City, where he would remain for the next seventeen years. He was designated Taylor's heir-apparent within the company.

As a dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Gillis performed in a large body of Taylor's choreographed works spanning from 1976 through 1991, including Cloven Kingdom, Polaris, Airs, Diggity, Nightshade, Profiles, Le Sacre du Printemps (the Rehearsal), Arden Court, House of Cards, Lost Found and Lost, Mercuric Tidings, Equinox, Snow White, Sunset, Byzantium, Roses, Ab Ovo Usque Ad Mala, A Musical Offering, Kith and Kin, Syzygy, Brandenburgs, Counterswarm, Danbury Mix, Speaking in Tongues, Minikin Fair, The Sorcerer's Sofa, Of Bright and Blue Birds and the Gala Sun, and Fact and Fancy 3 Epitaphs and All.

Gillis also developed a substantial body of work as a choreographer. His choreographic output spanned from 1982 to 1993 and included Thin Ice, VeRS La Glace, Paean, Spell It Out, Luvs Alphabet, Curbs and Corridors, Icarus at Night, Andalusian Green, Ghost Stories, Ne Me Quitte Pas, and Landscape. His choreographic works were performed by the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the White Oak Dance Project, and the Fairfax Ballet. In 1990, he appeared alongside his sister Margie in Eye on Dance, a documentary and interview produced by Celia Ipiotis for ARC Videodance in New York.

Gillis died on August 7, 1993, in New York City, from complications related to AIDS at the age of 42. He is referenced in several published works, including Moving Words: Re-Writing Dance by Gary Morris, Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality by Patrick Moore, and The American Dance Festival by Jack Anderson.