Today we’d like to introduce you to Chiara Gorodesky

Hi Chiara, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?

After moving to New York City 12 years ago from London and having two beautiful children, I realized that what I had been doing all along for many, many years would in fact have to become my main professional task in life.

Although I am a litigation attorney qualified in England and have joyfully practised law for many years before moving away from the UK, I was always very actively involved in the wonderful world of ballet and the performing arts, mainly with The Ballet Association supporting The Royal Ballet and The Birmingham Royal Ballet companies.

To add to this, there is not a time that I can remember since early childhood (supported and encouraged by my parents) that I have not been involved in charitable work and also with helping care for animals, mainly tortoises.

In short, what took me almost 40 years and two children later to realize was that I needed to work with ballet dancers and tortoises. And to try and make a difference on our planet.

Making use of my diverse skill set in law, languages and simply loving to spend time with interesting people, I started helping out at Turtle Conservancy (TC) as soon as I moved to NYC, getting to understand and know the intricacies and great challenges of contemporary conservation. TC was founded by two amazing humans, Eric Goode (yes, THE Eric Goode who produced Tiger King and Chimp Crazy) and Maurice Rodrigues. They and my TC colleagues taught me many lessons and opened my heart and eyes of what is truly important, namely to ensure that wild animals remain in their natural habitat. During a trip to Ted Turner’s Ranch in New Mexico a group of us had the privilege of rewilding a certain species of tortoises called the Bolson Tortoise, that had been extinct in that area for over 10,000 years. That was one of the most meaningful experiences I have been involved in and showed me what some people and the organizations behind them do to make this planet a safer and better place for all.

I then decided to found Vildwerk Foundation Inc, a registered non-profit organization with a mission of raising environmental conservation awareness through dance at the highest level of artistry. My vision was to have something like Sir David Attenborough’s Our Planet on stage, where each dance represents a different episode and nature theme.

The performance should inspire the audience to engage in deeds supporting the work of the many amazing conservation organizations and, ideally, artists and conservationists should collaborate during the creation phase of each balletic work to make it as authentic as possible!

With all this in mind, I called up some of my dearest friends and ended up with a board of 4 and an advisory board of over 30 amazing individuals, such as Christopher Wheeldon, Russ Mittermeier and so many more.

And I am so proud that, two years later, we just had our inaugural performance season in October 2024 during Hispanic Heritage Month, that I named TIME TO PROTECT OUR PLANET at the Theatre of the Museo del Barrio in Manhattan. We had a full theatre of almost 600 people on two nights, including many different community groups that were invited free of charge, such as through the Mexican and Colombian Consulates in New York, The Scouts, The Juilliard School, The Hewitt and Browning Schools, Joffrey Ballet School, New York Theatre Ballet School, School of American Ballet and many more.

Seven incredible choreographers, Christopher Wheeldon, Joshua Beamish, Gianna Reisen, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Briana J. Reed, Henning Ruebsam and Mara Galeazzi presented eight works with a stellar cast of dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet, Martha Graham Company, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Complexions, LA Dance Project and many more.

vildwerk. now has a small but powerful dance repertory about subject matters including climate change, the loss of species, the importance and relevance of mycorrhizal fungi in nature allowing trees and plants to communicate with each other, moss and the migration of species (macaw and butterflies!). We also attached a special initiative to this season, namely #therubyinitiative. Ruby is a Burmese Roofed Turtle (Batagur trivittata) from Myanmar, a country engaged in an ongoing civil war. She is one of the rarest turtles currently in North America and might soon become extinct without intense conservation efforts to save her kind. vildwerk. teamed up with three exceptionally talented and accomplished photographers, namely Samantha Bass, Martin Broen, Stephanie Diani. All three met Ruby and took her portraits, which were exhibited in the foyer of the theatre during the shows. This way, we raised not only awareness of Ruby’s plight, but also funds to help conservationists with a program to avoid her extinction.

The main thing about vildwerk. is that the audience should make an actual difference by attending our shows and supporting us.

vildwerk. goes beyond our performances. It is actionable activism coupled with the performing arts.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

Time. We are running out of it. It is five minutes to twelve in environmental terms and it is therefore time to protect the planet right now. I encourage your readers to visit vildwerk.org and read up on us and get involved. We have big plans for 2025 and there is a lot going on.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

My work is to tell stories of conservation through dance. The Challenge for me is to make my love for turtles and the environment and dance other people’s love too.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?

Success is definitely that people get inspired through our dance performances and education and then go out and follow up with the collaborating conservation organizations and help them with their efforts. For example, to help save the Amazonian rainforest or learn how we can make a difference in New York City to ensure that more fish swim in the Hudson and that the river is getting cleaner (for example with our collaborators Nature and Culture International and Hudson River Park).

I came to the realization that we are under a moral and ethical obligation as humans to strive for the good and to make this world a better place no matter how bleak things presently look, and my legal skills. My advice to others is to come up with a tangible and realistic strategy of making your dreams come true and, even when not all boxes can be ticked at the same times and things get difficult, continue to make it work without giving up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vildwerk.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vildwerk/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vildwerk
• Twitter: https://x.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fvildwerk
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vildwerk.

Toujours, Choreography by Mara Galeazzi

This Bitter Earth, Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon

The Golden Turtle, Choreography by Joshua Beamish

Network, Choreography by Gianna Reisen

Moss Anthology (Variation #5, 2024), Choreography by Jaqulyn Buglisi

arcas, Choreography by Henning Rübsam

Ara, Choreography by Joshua Beamish

Image Credits

Hisae Aihara (dance photography)
Martin Broen (Ruby)