Daniel Ezralow

Daniel Ezralow was born in 1957 in Los Angeles.

He was an athlete in high school and specialized in hurdle events. In 1974, he started studying medicine at Berkeley. In his first year, he began studying dance and performed with the university’s dance company.
In 1976 he left his medicine studies and moved to New York, where he studied with Alvin Ailey, at the Joffrey Ballet and in Juilliard. After several months, he began working as a dancer in 5 X 2 Plus, directed by Bruce Becker and Jane Kosminsky, and remained active with the company for three years, except for a short spell with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. In 1979-83 he danced in the Paul Taylor Dance Company. During this time, he worked with his friend Moses Pendleton on several projects for the Pilobolus company and other freelance projects. In 1983, Ezralow and Pendleton cofounded MOMIX dance-theater company, where he worked as a dancer and choreographer. In 1987, Ezralow left MOMIX together with Jeremy Hampton, Ashley Roland and Morley Steinberg to establish the ISO Dance Theater (ISO – “I’m So Optimistic”), where he danced and choreographed until 1994. While working in MOMIX and ISO, Ezralow choreographed for the Paris Ballet, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and the London Contemporary Dance Company. He also choreographed for Broadway musicals, fashion shows and events, films and TV shows, video clips (U2, Sting, and others), concerts (David Bowie) and commercials.

In the 1980s, he was invited by Batsheva’s artistic director David Dvir to work with the company, which performed his pieces Dogfish and Brothers (1984); Svsplkt (1985); The Great Pretender (1987); Eight Heads and Psycho Killer (1988); and Super Straight is Coming Down (1990). His dances became popular and were frequently performed by the company.
Since the mid-1990s, Ezralow has continued to choreograph for many companies worldwide, including the American Repertory Ballet, Cirque du Soleil and others. He has also choreographed for blockbuster movies such as The Full Monty and Men in Black; operas and musicals (Cats, Spiderman); concerts (Andrea Bocelli, Ricky Martin, and others); and multimedia and ceremonial events, including the 70th Academy Awards ceremony in 1998, and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Ezralow won the Bob Fosse choreography award (1996), Emmy Award (1996), Premio Positano Prize (1998), Nijinsky Award (1998) and the Premio Ischia Gassman (2006).