Nadine Bommer

Born in New York City, Nadine Bommer spent much of her childhood between Rishon LeZion, Israel and New York. With encouragement from her mother, whose own aspirations for dance were disrupted by World War 2, Bommer began studying dance. Soon afterwards she was awarded a full scholarship to train at the American Ballet Theatre School. Spending the bulk of her teenage years in Israel, Bommer started teaching modern dance to at risk children and youth. At 17, she returned to New York with a scholarship to train at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

A year later she was called back to Israel to fulfill her conscription with the Israeli Defense Forces. In acknowledgement of her talent, Bommer's service consisted of teaching dance as part of a special program created by the army. In a short amount of time she became an in-demand teacher as one of the few qualified dance artists in the still developing region. Realizing that there was no one with whom she could further own career as a dancer, at the age of 21 Bommer opened the first in a series of successful dance studios alongside her husband. After an immediate wave of success and media attention as a jazz choreographer, she rejected the world of commercial dance to focus on developing her artistic voice and philosophy.

While visiting Palmachim's beach as an expectant mother, Bommer had an epiphany about movement that she refined into the core principles of her technique: Kinetica and Animato. Inspired by the endless motion of the sea, Bommer's Kinetica transforms bodies into limitless shapes by tapping into nascent kinetic energy, while Animato uses this malleability to create comedic characters from out of her imagination. During this period of creative gestation, she went on to win numerous choreographic prizes and commissions from the Balletto Di Toscana Festival in Florence, Italy. Concurrent with these honors, she founded the Nadine Bommer Dance Academy and soon afterwards, a professional performing group with whom she spent the next 6 years developing her technique.

In 2007, the first piece to use the codified Nadine Bommer Technique - Manimation - premiered to great acclaim which led the Israeli government to formally recognize and sponsor her work with institutional support. On the wheels of this success, Bommer experienced an artistic renaissance which led her to choreograph three new full-length works in quick succession, including a touring production that took her company all over the world. In tandem with this success, her daughter also rose to fame after participating in the award-winning documentary First Position, which featured the young girl winning many prizes while performing Bommer's choreography around the world.

Following her involvement in First Position, Bommer was invited to present work in New York City after which an anonymous donor sponsored the relocation of her company. Returning to the city of her birth, Bommer started working with a new group of dancers to give the NYC premiere of her popular theatre-dance piece, Invisiball.

While continuing to tour internationally in this production Bommer has premiered work at Jacob's Pillow and on Broadway at The New Victory Theater, choreographed a critically acclaimed new work, received the coveted CUNY Dance Initiative, debuted at Battery Dance Festival, and established a new school to spread her contemporary dance technique throughout New York. To date, she continues to choreograph while leading her two companies in New York and Israel.

Bommer is married to businessman Ziv Yemini, with whom she has 3 children. Her daughter is the professional dancer and Youth America Grand Prix winner, Gaya Bommer-Yemini who was made famous from her participation in Bess Kargman's award-winning documentary First Position.

Bommer lives in New York City with her husband and teenaged sons.