Gerard was itching to dance since the moment he watched his first music video. The sounds and moves of great pop legends and their choreographers inspired him to pursue his dream to become a professional dancer. At the ‘late’ age of twenty Gerard began to train formally. He worked tirelessly to advance his skills to match the other dancers in his age group who had years – sometimes even decades – of training experience over him. After less than a year of training, Gerard auditioned for the Theatre-Dance program at Ryerson University, where the faculty immediately recognized Gerard’s raw talent and offered him a place in their program. For the next four years, he trained in Ballet, Modern and Jazz as well as in singing and theatre. Gerard also used his “off-time” from school to attend summer ballet programs, training intensely at L’école Supérieure de Danse in Montreal and at the Boston Ballet.
After graduating from Ryerson, Gerard landed a position as a company member in one of the few modern dance companies in Toronto, working for the Canadian dance legend, Danny Grossman. After a fulfilling year with the company, Gerard was eager to broaden his horizons and moved to New York City. Within only a couple of months of arriving in NYC, Gerard had broken ground by earning the opportunity to perform with yet another renowned contemporary dance company, Bill T. Jones, at New York’s City Center – one of the most prestigious theatres in the world. During the next couple of years, Gerard sought to expand his repertoire by learning new styles of urban dance such as House, Top Rock, and Hip Hop in true New York style. Enriched by his dance experiences in New York, Gerard applied his evolved outlook on movement and expression to a Guest Artist position with the critically acclaimed Compagnie Marie Chouinard. After dancing with the company for their shows in Montreal and Paris, Ms. Chouinard asked Gerard to join the ensemble as a permanent Company Member performing four pieces from her celebrated repertoire to sold-out audiences in cities such as Lisbon, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Moscow, Chicago, San Francisco, Prague, Budapest and Ottawa. Gerard even took part in Chouinard’s made-for-television film Body Remix in October 2007, which aired nationally on Bravo!, as well as on Arte in Europe, and for which he won a Gemini Award in 2009 in the category of “Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program or Series”.
Having proven himself as a company dancer on the international stage, the time had come for Gerard to develop the commercial side of his career. After working with Hip Hop sensation, and SYTYCDC judge, Luther Brown on Skye Sweetnam’s Human video, Gerard decided to move stateside to Los Angeles. While there, Gerard trained with leading industry choreographers such as Marty Kudelka, Tovaris Wilson, Misha Hamilton, Kevin Maher and David Moore. He also reconnected with his second passion, theatre, and trained with renowned Film and Television Director, and Larry Moss’ protégé: Lisa Robinson. Gerard has recently returned to Canada and divides his time between touring across Europe, Asia and North America with the Montreal-based Compagnie Marie Chouinard, with studying acting and working as a freelance commercial dancer/actor; currently appearing in national commericals and print ads for Intact Insurance.