Interesting – I’m surprised that there wasn’t much information in the program! Did they list what works this version of Deca Dance drew on, or were there absolutely no notes? I know when I saw it this summer, the program listed the original works that were excerpted, but I don’t think these were put in order.

As for the dancers, I don’t think I’ve seen any programs here that have specified which dancers were performing in each section (this stretches beyond Batsheva – other than ballet companies and some older modern companies, I don’t see this much these days).

I know it can be frustrating to not have more information – I’m also typically of the sort that wants to know as much as possible. But I’m honestly not sure at what stage of the game the gaps in the program content were made, and it might not have been a top-down decision from the artistic side of things.

Ah, if only programs always had everything we wanted!

While I do not know Mr. Naharan, nor have I ever seen his work before, I find it somewhat arrogant to neglect the audience in its need or desire to identify who is dancing what and also their need and desire to acknowledge the creator of the works. Especially works like his that impose his signature on everything that the dancers do.

Thanks for your wonderful coverage of dance in Israel as part of your Fulbright grant! You’ve done an excellent job.

I hope that in the future that dancers, choreographers, teachers, researchers and others who receive grants to explore different aspects of dance around the world consider the public sharing, primarily through blogs and the Internet, of their experiences and findings an important component of their projects. Too often, I believe, fascinating research and insights are shared only within a small circle when a much larger audiences can be engaged.