Background
She was born in Montreal, Quebec, the daughter of Gene Gillis, an Olympic skier, and Rhona Wurtele, a Canadian Olympic skier.
She was born in Montreal, Quebec, the daughter of Gene Gillis, an Olympic skier, and Rhona Wurtele, a Canadian Olympic skier.
A modern-dance artist, dancer and choreographer, Gillis has been creating original works for over thirty-five years. Her repertoire includes more than one hundred pieces, which she performs as solos and nearly a dozen duets, and group pieces. Her brother, Jere Gillis played professional hockey.
Her other brother, Christopher Gillis, was a professional dancer and choreographer who danced with her since childhood and collaborated on numerous shows.
Showing a passion for dance early in life, she began ballet and gymnastic lessons at the age of three. In 1981, she founded her own company, the Margie Gillis Dance Foundation with the mission to support and present her artistic work.
Her international tours have taken her to Asia, India, Europe and the Middle East as well as across North and South America. Gillis is a socially committed artist.
She has been spokesperson for a number of organizations dedicated to the fight against Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome as well as for OXFAM and the Planned Parenthood Foundation.
She was the first performer to take modern dance to China in 1979. During the summer months, Gillis teaches two one-week dance retreats at HollyHock, a centre on Cortes Island, British Columbia.