Formerly a Principal Dancer with the
Cincinnati Ballet and Corella Ballet, and First Soloist with Boston Ballet, Joseph
Gatti is the Artistic Director for the United Ballet Theatre in Orlando, FL. He
was born in Warwick, New York and raised in Orlando, Florida, where he began
dancing at the Orlando Ballet School and continued his training with Vadim
Fedotov and Irina Depler. Joseph danced at Orlando Ballet as an apprentice from
2001-2003, under the direction of Fernando Bujones.
In 2003, he was coached by Orlando Molina for
the Youth American Grand Prix Ballet Competition in New York, where he was
awarded the gold medal and a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in London.
Upon graduating with honors, he received the Dame Ruth Railton Award for
Excellence in Dance in 2004. After attending the American Ballet Theater Summer
Intensive in 2003, he joined the American Ballet Theater Studio Company for the
2004-2005 season. In 2005, he became the first American male dancer to win the
prestigious gold medal at the New York International Ballet Competition.
Joseph was nominated as Best Male Dancer for
the 2006 Benois de la Danse in Moscow, Russia. The Benois de la Danse is one of the most
prestigious ballet competitions and was founded by the International Dance Association in Moscow
in 1991. The
members of this jury consist of only top ballet personages such as Carla Fracci,
Alessandra Ferri, Irina Kolpakova, Yuri Grigorovich, John Neumeier and Rudolph
Nureyev. That same year, he became a
bronze medalist at the USA International Ballet Competition and a silver
medalist at the Seoul International Ballet Competition in Korea.
He
was also chosen to be featured in a video entitled “The Male Ballet Dancer”
presented by master teacher Finis Jhung. In 2007, Joseph was coached by Magaly
Suarez for the first World Ballet Competition in Orlando, Florida, where he
received the gold medal. Mr. Gatti also received the bronze medal at the 2010
Istanbul International Ballet Competition. In 2013, Joseph received the Mr.
Virtuosity Award at the Dance Open Ballet Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia.
In 2014, he also received the “Best Pas De Deux” award at the Dance Open
Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Joseph has had the privilege to work with many
choreographers and master teachers such a as Natalia Makarova, Val Caniparoli,
Wayne McGregor, Angel Corella, Jorma Elo, Jiri Kylian, Twyla Tharp and
Christopher Wheeldon. He is also a master teacher of ballet, guest
teaching around the world from the Ballet Philippines Company and School,
National Capital School Of Ballet (Australia) and Youth America Grand Prix. He has also had the privilege to work with some
of today’s top fitness experts and physical therapists including Peter Donohoe
and Doctor of Physical Therapy for the Boston Ballet, Heather Southwick. As of result of his experience and his desire
to train and treat dancers not only as artists but athletes as well, he Founded
the United Ballet Theatre in 2018, focusing on dancer health and sustainability
through a radically different approach to training designed to maintain overall
dancer health.
