Duke Dance Accompanist Natalie Gilbert Honored by International Guild of Musicians in Dance

Natalie Gilbert, a longtime accompanist for the Duke Dance Program, was recently honored by the International Guild of Musicians in Dance (IGMD) with the Louis Horst Award for her outstanding contributions to the field.  

Gilbert was presented with the award at the organization’s conference at Bellhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi. The Louis Horst Award celebrates Gilbert’s decades of work at the intersection of music and movement, and also highlights Duke’s continued commitment to live music in dance — a tradition Gilbert has helped sustain. 

Gilbert’s career began at Oberlin College, where she first accompanied classes as a work-study job, and has since spanned teaching and research roles at NYU’s Tisch School of Dance, Barnard, New World School of the Arts, and The Ohio State University, where she earned her master’s degree. She spent more than 30 years with the American Dance Festival at Duke, teaching music for dance classes, accompanying, and serving as music director. As a founding member of IGMD at SUNY Brockport in 1991, she has worked with colleagues across the globe to accompany classes, compose for dance, and foster dialogue between dancers, teachers, and musicians about the shared language of their art forms. 

In honoring Gilbert, IGMD recognized both her individual impact and her contributions to the broader field. The guild has long championed faculty positions, courses and tenure for dance musicians, and Gilbert’s career reflects that mission.  

“At a time when artificial intelligence and budget cuts reshape the arts, live music and live dance affect not only how we learn our independent languages, but how this relationship affects the limbic system, our brains, our hearts and our souls,” said Gilbert.