Molly Gawler grew up on Buttermilk Hill on a small farm in Maine. She danced from a young age and studied Vaganova ballet with Russian teacher and choreographer Andrei Bossov. Following that, she broadened her horizons with ballet, modern and improvisational studies at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance earning her bachelor of fine arts in dance performance. While in New York City she danced with contemporary/modern companies CorbinDances with choreography by Patrick Corbin and Noa Dance with choreography by Nelly VanBommell.

 

She began working with Pilobolus Dance Theater in 2006, and soon thereafter, she was a part of the Oscars Academy Awards of 2007 and collaboratively created many theatrical shadow projects that arose from that point forward. The culmination of that work is her lead role as “the dog girl” in Pilobolus’s “Shadowland,” a full-length show that toured the world.

She also plays fiddle, banjo and sings in the Gawler Family Band as well as her trio of sisters, The Gawler Sisters. She continued her movement/performance studies with the Cyr Wheel and Rope at the New England Center for Circus Arts. Currently she resides in Monroe with her husband Lao and tends to a small vegetable garden.

 

John Gawler is the father of the Gawler Family Band. He plays the banjo and his wife, Ellen, plays the fiddle. Their three daughters, Molly, Edith and Elsie have followed in their parents footsteps and they have a family band all together playing traditional folk tunes and singing songs all over Maine and beyond. John’s love for music has taken him all around the world. He has toured with Old Grey Goose International to many places in the world including Cuba and Central Asia. He brings with him a jolly smile (now with a gold tooth) plenty of jokes, string figures and an ability to connect with people through the universal language of music. John teaches banjo to all ages at Maine Fiddle Camp and happens to be a walking encyclopedia of songs. By day, he is a sheet metal roofer and lives on the family homestead in Belgrade.