Dance In Israel » Video Views

Batsheva Dance Company’s Mixed Bill: Yasmeen Godder and Sharon Eyal & Gai Bachar

Deborah Friedes Galili — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:46:26 +0000

Video: Batsheva Dance Company in Yasmeen Godder’s The Toxic Exotic Disappearance Act

On first thought, Batsheva Dance Company’s new mixed bill seems an unusual choice of programming. House (titled “Ha’avoda shel hofesh” in Hebrew) by Sharon Eyal and Gai Bachar is a natural pick, since Eyal has served as the troupe’s house choreographer since 2005. The first half of the evening, however, belongs to someone from decidedly outside of the Batsheva fold: Yasmeen Godder. Godder is not a complete stranger to Batsheva, having created Green Fields on the Ensemble in 2000, but her The Toxic Exotic Disappearance Act is the first work by anyone other than Ohad Naharin or Eyal to be performed by Batsheva in several years. Beyond the novelty of a guest choreographer working with the company, the combination of these particular artists initially seems to be an odd coupling. Were I to make a family tree of contemporary dance in Israel, Godder’s branch would be far away from that of Eyal and Bachar. Indeed, aesthetically, these creators occupy nearly opposite ends on the art form’s spectrum.

Yet watching the performance at Suzanne Dellal on January 4, this pairing started to make sense.

For all their stylistic differences, Godder and the team of Eyal and Bachar do have one key trait in common: they are artists who are audacious and provocative, in the best senses of those words. Rather than play it safe, these creators unabashedly delve into the realms of the twisted, the disturbing, and even the grotesque in their repertory. Rarely have I heard anyone deliver a lukewarm review of either Godder’s or Eyal’s work; indeed, it’s practically impossible to not react strongly to their choreography.

Yasmeen Godder’s The Toxic Exotic Disappearance Act. Photograph by Gadi Dagon.

Batsheva’s mixed bill of Godder’s The Toxic Exotic Disappearance Act and Eyal and Bachar’s House may not be an aesthetically cohesive evening. But it’s savvy programming, for each dance has the capacity to leave a significant impact on the audience – and together, these electrifying works outline the range of contemporary dance in Israel today.

Sharon Eyal and Gai Bachar’s House. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Batsheva’s new program continues at Suzanne Dellal in Tel Aviv through January 7 and returns from January 18-20. Additional performances are scheduled later in the season; for more details, please visit Batsheva’s website.

Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance, edited by Judith Brin Ingber

Deborah Friedes Galili — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:31:43 +0000

Image courtesy of Judith Brin Ingber.

I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance ever since writer and editor Judith Brin Ingber first sent me a table of contents. When I finally met her in person last year at the Modern Jewish Experience through the Lens of Dance conference at The Ohio State University, she whetted my appetite for the anthology even more with her slide show of images from the book. And now, having carefully read through my copy of this sizable volume, published this past summer by Wayne State University Press, I can vouch that this book was well worth the wait. For those of us who study the field – and for those who wish to know more about the subject – Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance is an invaluable resource.

Besides a few of Brin Ingber’s own writings, this anthology includes an extraordinarily diverse array of writers: Sara Levi-Tanai, Felix Fibich with Judith Brin Ingber, Janice Ross, Nina S. Spiegel, Josh Perelman, Ayalah Goren-Kadman, Dawn Lille, Shalom Staub, Giora Manor, Zvi Friedhaber, Barbara Sparti, Yehuda Hyman, Jill Gellerman, Dina Roginsky, Elke Kaschl, Naomi M. Jackson, and Gaby Aldor. Some of these authors are themselves dancers and choreographers who offer their first-person insights, while others approach their topics from a scholarly point of view. This breadth of voices is one of the book’s greatest strengths, engaging the reader anew with the start of each article.

Moreover, with writings by such a substantial number of authors who boast different areas of expertise, Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance provides perspectives on a remarkably wide range of subject matter. Articles on Jewish dancing masters in Renaissance Italy, Israeli folk dance as practiced in Israel and New York City, Hasidic dance, Yemenite dance, Kurdish dance, Ethiopian dance, ballet, contemporary dance, and more all find their place in this book. Spanning history and geography, and encompassing dance performed both onstage and off, the anthology portrays a broad yet nuanced vision of how Jews have danced and continue to dance.

In keeping with the title of the book, Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance features not only texts but also a wealth of images. 182 illustrations illuminate the authors’ points. You can view some of the images and hear Brin Ingber’s explanations in the video produced by the Jewish Daily Forward below.

Images of Jewish & Israeli Dance from Jewish Daily Forward on Vimeo.

Since the publication of Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance, Brin Ingber has embarked on a series of book signings and lectures, and her travels have now brought her to Israel. On Sunday, December 18, she will speak at the Dance Library of Israel at 8:00 p.m. Entrance is free, but due to limited seating, reservations should be made by e-mailing danceba@mail.tel-aviv.gov.il

International Exposure 2011: The Year in Israeli Dance

Deborah Friedes Galili — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:59:25 +0000

Renana Raz’s The Diplomats. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

As 2011 draws to a close, it’s natural to reflect on the year that has passed – and for those of us who follow Israeli contemporary dance, International Exposure offers the perfect opportunity for reflecting on the works created here in the last twelve months. From November 30-December 4, International Exposure 2011 will present much of the past year’s bounty to an audience of presenters and journalists from around the globe. Most of the festival focuses on Israeli contemporary dance, but a few other genres including flamenco and belly dance will also be represented.

While the festival will include a number of studio showings just for guests of International Exposure, a number of programs have tickets available for purchase through the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s box office (03-5105656). Here’s a video preview of the festival, with an emphasis on the shows that are open to the public.

Wednesday, November 30

After finishing registration, guests of International Exposure will be treated to a performance by Orly Portal and the Andalusian Orchestra in Studio Varda. At 8:00 p.m. in the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s main theater, Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak will offer their brand new work, Bombyx Mori. The first night will finish in Yerushalmi Hall with Maria Kong Dancers Company in a program called Kong’s Night, featuring works by Leo Lerus, Anderson Braz, and Artour Astman.

Video: Maria Kong, trailer for Kong’s Night

Thursday, December 1

The second day of International Exposure starts with a performance of Yoram Karmi’s Jungle Book by Fresco Dance Group at the Holon Theater, followed by the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s performance of Rami Be’er’s Ben Kodesh Le’Hol at Suzanne Dellal at noon.

Video: Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company

Yoni Soutchy’s Ben, one of two winners in the biennial Shades of Dance competition, will be performed along with Anat Grigorio’s Eternal Mission in the more intimate Yerushalmi Hall at 2:00 p.m.

Video: Yoni Soutchy’s Ben

Some guests will head to Tamar Borer’s studio for a showing of her work, YAMUNA.

Video: Tamar Borer’s YAMUNA

Everyone will reconvene at 6:00 p.m. in the main theater at Suzanne Dellal for Roy Assaf’s 6 Years Later and Noa Zuk’s Speaker, two dances from this year’s Curtain Up.

Video: Roy Assaf’s 6 Years Later . . .

Video: Noa Zuk’s Speaker

A mixed bill in the main theater at 9:00 p.m. will include Dafi Altabeb’s High Expectations, Dana Ruttenberg’s Poly, and Rachel Erdos’s Why We Tell.

Video: Dafi Altabeb’s High Expectations

Sahar Azimi and Tamara Erde’s Cell in a Human Scale will be presented in Studio Varda at 10:30 p.m.

Video: Sahar Azimi and Tamara Erde’s Cell in a Human Scale

Friday, December 2

The third day of the festival begins at 10:00 a.m. at Suzanne Dellal with Vertigo Dance Company in Noa Wertheim‘s Null.

Video: Vertigo Dance Company in Noa Wertheim’s Null

Yasmeen Godder will present Storm End Come at the Nahmani Theater at 1:00 p.m.

Yasmeen Godder’s Storm End Come. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Back at Suzanne Dellal at 4:30 p.m., Ido Tadmor offers Three Rooms. And after a Shabbat reception, Suzanne Dellal will show its latest production: a mixed bill featuring Renana Raz‘s The Diplomats and Barak Marshall‘s Wonderland.

Video: Renana Raz’s The Diplomats

Video: Barak Marshall’s Wonderland

Saturday, December 3

Saturday kicks off at 10:00 a.m. in Suzanne Dellal with COMPAS Dance Company, a flamenco troupe, in Pavo Real.

Video: COMPAS in Pavo Real

At noon in the Inbal Theater, Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor present Ship of Fools, which premiered in this past year’s Israel Festival.

Video: Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor’s Ship of Fools

Across the courtyard in Yerushalmi Hall, Ronit Ziv offers With Subtitles at 2:00 p.m.

Video: Ronit Ziv’s With Subtitles

At 3:30 p.m., the main theater will feature a mixed bill with Idan Cohen’s Mad Siren, Lee Meir’s Translation Included (one of the winners of the Shades of Dance competition), and the Be’ersheva-based Kamea Dance Company in Uri Ivgi’s Four Legs.

Video: Idan Cohen’s Mad Siren

Video: Lee Meir’s Translation Included

Over in the Inbal Theater at 18:00, Tami Dance Company will perform La by Nimrod Freed with Israel Brait. This work premiered during the Israel Festival in Jerusalem.

Video: Nimrod Freed’s Tami Dance Company in La

Idan Sharabi’s Rak Tamid will be performed in Studio Varda at 8:00 p.m.

Video: Idan Sharabi’s Rak Tamid

Saturday’s programming will end with the Jerusalem-based Kolben Dance Company in Amir Kolben’s Babel in the main theater at 10:00 p.m.

Video: Amir Kolben’s Babel

Sunday, December 4

After a tour to Jerusalem, International Exposure 2011 will come to a close in Suzanne Dellal’s main theater with a 9:00 p.m. performance of Batsheva Dance Company in Ohad Naharin’s Sadeh21, which premiered in the Israel Festival.

Video: Batsheva Dance Company in Ohad Naharin’s Sadeh 21

Curtain Up 2011: A Festival of Dance Premieres

Deborah Friedes Galili — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:11:11 +0000

In Her Own Words by Rachel Erdos. Photo by Yaniv Cohen.

Founded in 1989, Curtain Up (Haramat Masach in Hebrew) has become a centerpiece of Israel’s contemporary dance calendar. In many ways, the core of this yearly platform has remained the same over the decades: up-and-coming choreographers who operate outside of the country’s major companies receive financial and artistic support to present new works on a series of mixed bills in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Yet in its most recent editions, Curtain Up has added another layer: cultivating artistic directors who are themselves choreographers. Last year, four alumni of the festival – Tamar Borer, Sahar Azimi, Ronit Ziv, and Renana Raz – were each charged with curating an evening. This year, Borer, Azimi, and Ziv are returning as artistic directors, applying the lessons they learned in 2010 to Curtain Up 2011, which runs from November 3-12.

Curtain Up’s three programs will each be performed twice at the Suzanne Dellal Centre and once at the Jerusalem Theatre. In cooperation with the Choreographers Association and Tarbut L’Yisrael, the works created for Curtain Up will also be performed in Israel’s northern and southern regions, enabling these younger choreographers to gain further exposure.

So just what is on the bill for Curtain Up this year? Here is a video preview of the three programs:

Curtain 1

Artistic Director: Tamar Borer
Choreographers: Iris Erez, Maya Brinner, Maya Weinberg
Performances at the Suzanne Dellal Centre: November 3 and 12 at 21:00
Performances at the Jerusalem Theatre: November 10 at 20:30

Video: Shuttered by Iris Erez

Video: Forest by Maya Brinner

Video: Some Fish (swim up the river to die) by Maya Weinberg

Curtain 2

Artistic Director: Sahar Azimi
Choreographers: Doron Raz, Roy Assaf, Gili Navot, Noa Zuk
Performances at the Suzanne Dellal Centre: November 4 at 22:00 and November 10 at 21:00
Performances at the Jerusalem Theatre: November 8 at 20:30

Video: Valentia by Doron Raz

Video: 6 Years Later by Roy Assaf

Video: Subject to Change by Gili Navot

Video: Speaker by Noa Zuk

Curtain 3

Artistic Director: Ronit Ziv
Choreographers: Hillel Kogan, Rachel Erdos, Osnat Kelner
Performances at the Suzanne Dellal Centre: November 5 at 21:00 and November 11 at 22:00
Performances at the Jerusalem Theatre: November 9 at 20:30

Video: Obscene Gesture by Hillel Kogan

Video: In Her Own Words by Rachel Erdos

Video: The sad little, unappreciative, Pisces, Jesus man by Osnat Kelner

More Information

Tickets for Curtain Up performances are 60 NIS. For tickets to Curtain Up at Suzanne Dellal, call 03-5105656. For tickets to Curtain Up at the Jerusalem Theatre, call 02-5605755.

Shades of Dance 2011 Video Preview

Deborah Friedes Galili — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:00:16 +0000

Lilach Livne’s Monday Larissa. Photo by Lilach Livne.

After months of work, sixteen up-and-coming choreographers are ready to unveil their creations in the 2011 Shades of Dance competition at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv. Whether you’re wondering which programs to attend or live afar and wish you could see the latest work coming out of Israel, here’s a video preview that will give you a glimpse of this year’s lineup.

Tickets for Shades of Dance performances are available at 03-5105656 or online at the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s website.

Program Alef

September 7 at 20:00
September 9 at 20:00

Video: Gil C. Harush’s TAKANA

Video: Smadar Goshen’s Urbania

Video: Sharon Vaisvaser’s 42 Inch

Program Bet

September 8 at 20:00
September 10 at 22:30

Video: Idan Yoav’s Almost Human

Video: Lee Meir’s Translation in the Body of the Text

Video: Yuval Goldstein’s Expensive Shit

Program Bet also includes Ran Ben Dror’s Agasi Pallas.

Program Gimel

September 7 at 17:30
September 8 at 22:30
September 9 at 12:00

Video: Meytal Blanaru’s Aurora

Video: Moran Yitzhaki Abergel’s Over Me

Video: Lilach Livne’s Monday Larissa

Program Daled

September 7 at 22:30
September 8 at 17:30
September 9 at 14:30

Video: Yoni Soutchy’s Ben

Video: Merav Cohen’s And When the Beast Returned

Video: Amit Zamir’s Buba (Doll)

Program Hey

September 9 at 22:30
September 10 at 17:30 and 20:00

Video: Liron Ozeri’s Caravan

Video: Ido Batash’s Bread and Circuses Blood

Video: Artour Astman’s Foosho

Yossi Berg and Oded Graf’s “Animal Lost”

Deborah Friedes Galili — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 07:26:40 +0000

Video: Trailer for Yossi Berg and Oded Graf’s Animal Lost, with the original cast

“It started from the fact that we wanted to have more shows in Israel,” Yossi Berg remarks of the decision to create a second cast for Animal Lost. Berg and his partner, Oded Graf, premiered the work in Copenhagen with an international cast in 2010, and the full-length production has since made a splash with performances at prestigious venues ranging from the American Dance Festival to Montpellier Danse in France. Yet juggling the schedules of the standout cast members, who work as freelance artists throughout Europe, proved a formidable impediment for mounting regular shows in the choreographers’ home country. Recounts Berg, “We would like to keep running the piece on a regular basis in Israel, because it’s quite new and it doesn’t make sense that we are invited all over the world and we are performing all over the world but not here, which is our base. This is how we started the idea of making another cast.”

Now Israeli audiences who have heard the buzz from abroad will get their chance to catch the wildly popular production with locally-based dancers as part of the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s Macholohet (SummerDance) festival on July 29-30. Two of the dancers joining Berg and Graf on the Inbal Hall’s intimate stage are Israelis Ofir Yudilevitch and Ayala Frenkel. Completing Animal Lost’s second cast – and keeping the mix international in flavor – are Olivia Court Mesa and Rosalind Noctor, more recent additions to Tel Aviv’s contemporary dance scene. The new group has a different balance of gender and nationality than the original cast, but ultimately, Berg and Graf believed that these individuals could form the dynamic, cohesive ensemble that drives the dance theater production. “We felt that all these four people have very beautiful energies, and from our experiences, it’s very important to work not only with artists but with people who are very nice and have their unique personalities,” reflects Berg.

Animal Lost by Yossi Berg and Oded Graf. Photo by Christoffer Askman.

While developing Animal Lost with the original ensemble, which continues to perform abroad, Berg recalls, “We dealt a lot with stereotypes and clichés. There’s some truth in this, but also, at the same time, it can be nothing, it can be nonsense. And this gap is interesting.” Restaging the work on the new cast has enabled Berg and Graf to dig further into the subject, to pose questions anew and to discover novel perspectives with this different group of performers. Berg acknowledges that resetting Animal Lost spurred him to search inside himself to find what he wanted to pass on to the dancers, a process that will no doubt enrich his own interpretation of the work.

Audiences returning to the piece may also notice some slight changes, since the co-creators strove to make the dance fit for the local ensemble. Yet the structure has remained the same, and so too has much of the text in which performers proclaim their nationalities, religions, occupations, and hobbies. With some of the declarations based on those made by the original dancers, the tensions between fiction and truth or expectation and reality are heightened, adding an additional layer to this cast’s exploration of cultural stereotypes. Noting that “some things were true and some things were not” in the first cast’s text as well, Berg explains, “We work a lot with this line of how you reach this place that you present it as if it’s true. . . . Some things have the potential of being truth, and these are the places that are important for us to present as reliable, because here we touch the deep place of the subject that we are dealing with.” As the dancers remove their masks on stage this weekend, they will reveal faces that are fresh to Animal Lost, but even in their debut, they are likely to go beneath the surface and probe the production’s theme to its core.

More Information

The new cast of Yossi Berg and Oded Graf’s Animal Lost will perform at the Suzanne Dellal Centre on Friday, July 29 and Saturday, July 30 at 20:30. Tickets are available at 03-5105656.

Related Websites

Yossi Berg and Oded Graf

World Dance: Machol Olam 2011

Deborah Friedes Galili — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:59:49 +0000

Video: Trailer for World Dance

This summer, dance from Israel has been crisscrossing the globe with tours and performances at major festivals. In recent weeks, with the five-day Contemporary Israeli Dance Week as part of LaMaMa Moves! in New York City and an extraordinary number of appearances by Israeli artists at the Montpellier Dance Festival in France, Israeli dance has triumphantly showcased its strengths on the world’s stages. Now, from July 11-28, Israel’s stages are about to get a dose of the world’s best dance in a brand-new festival called Machol Olam – World Dance.

Presented by the Suzanne Dellal Centre at the Wohl Amphitheater in Ganei Yehoshua, World Dance offers local dance fans an array of styles. While Israeli contemporary dance makes an appearance on the celebratory opening night with an excerpt from Barak Marshall’s Rooster, and The Project (a joint production of Suzanne Dellal and the Israeli Opera) will perform Jacopo Godani’s Light Years, by and large, the amphitheater’s stage is ceded to those artists who draw on ballet and flamenco forms.

Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Frank. Photo by Amitava Sarkar.

Indeed, it is the other component of the opening night’s mixed bill – the powerhouse dancers Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk – who more aptly reflect the festival’s stylistic thrust. Jacoby, a native of Idaho, and Pronk, who originally hails from Holland, met while members of Complexions Contemporary Ballet in New York City. Realizing they had similar artistic ideas, they left the comfort of the company in 2007 for a more adventurous existence as freelance dancers; ever since, they have toured the world in works by a range of choreographers who have capitalized on the pair’s virtuosity and stunning stage presence. For their first performance in Israel, Jacoby and Pronk will perform three duets: an excerpt from Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s One, Leo Mujic’s B Sonata, and Lightfoot Leon’s Sofly As I Leave You.

Video: Compas in Pavo Real

On July 13, the festvial continues with Pave Real, a co-production between Michal Natan’s COMPAS: The Israeli Flamenco Dance Company and Spanish flamenco dancer Miguel Angel Espino. Live flamenco and Argentine tango music helps create the mood for the work, which is set in a dance club in the 1930s.

Video: The Israel Ballet in Don Quixote

Hewing closely to Marius Petipa’s original choreography as revised by Aleksander Gorsky, the Israel Ballet’s spirited production of Don Quixote is scheduled for July 16. Valeria Martynyuk, a member of the famed Mariinsky Ballet since 2004, will dance the lead role of Kitri.

Video: Victor Ullate Ballet

World Dance contains a mini-festival, Madridanza, which kicks off with the Victor Ullate Ballet – Comunidad de Madrid on July 18-19. Since 1988, the company has been an integral part of Madrid’s dance scene, but this is the first time the troupe is appearing in Israel. Ullate and Eduardo Lao provide the choreography for El Arte de la Danza, a production that displays the strengths of the company’s dancers.

Video: Compania Flamenca Jose Porcel

Enlivening Madridanza on July 23-24 is Ballet Flamenco José Porcel. The company will present Moralejas with choreography by Porcel, Rocio Molina, Isabel Bayon, Alfonso Losa, and Ruben Olmo.

Madridanza also boasts a Spanish Gala celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of mutual diplomatic relations between Spain and Israel. Held on July 21, the concert will feature Porcel, dancers from Victor Ullate Ballet, Michal Natan and Miguel Angel Espino, Silvia Duran, and Gentian Doda and Dimo Kirilov in duets by Doda and Nacho Duato as well as the Ladino singing of Galit Giat.

After Madridanza finishes, World Dance continues with ballet luminaries from both sides of the Atlantic. Tom Gold Dance – run by the former New York City Ballet soloist – presents a mixed bill on July 26. Members of NYCB will perform George Balanchine’s Who Cares, Jerome Robbins’s In the Night, Petipa’s white swan pas de deux from Swan Lake, and Gold’s Tango. The entire extravaganza draws to a close on July 28 with soloists and dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet under the direction of Bruno Bouché in Incidence Choreographique. The program includes a new work by Nicholas Paul, the premiere of Arantxa Sagardoy’s Timeless, José Martinez’s Overture, an excerpt from William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated and Bouché’s Bless, which was created in July 2010 at Suzanne Dellal. Ballet connoisseurs outside of Tel Aviv can catch the dancers from NYCB at the Herzliya Performing Arts Centre or the dancers from Paris Opera at Haifa’s Rappaport Hall on the evening of July 30.

For more information, view World Dance’s page on the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s website. Tickets to performances at the Wohl Amphitheater are available through Suzanne Dellal’s box office: 03-5105656.

Related Websites

The 50th Israel Festival: Batsheva, Merce Cunningham, and More

Deborah Friedes Galili — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:33:25 +0000

Video: The 2011 Israel Festival
50 years of the Israel Festival – this country’s most prestigious multidisciplinary arts festival – is a milestone worthy of celebration. And for local dance lovers, the jubilee season offers even more reasons to celebrate, for the programming features an extraordinary lineup of artists from home and from abroad. With a rich calendar of performances through June 18, the 2011 Israel Festival is set to lure concert-goers from around the country to Jerusalem. Here’s a peek at this year’s dance events:

Video: Strange Fruit

The first day of the festival featured the physical marvels of Australia’s Strange Fruit in Zion Square and the lyricism of the Israel Ballet and soloists from Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet performing Giselle in Safra Square.

Video: Batsheva Dance Company in Ohad Naharin’s Sadeh21

Batsheva Dance Company returns to the festival with Ohad Naharin’s new Sadeh21, created in collaboration with the troupe’s full roster of dancers. Bathed in soft lighting by Avi Yona Bueno (Bambi) and clothed in variously hued and textured costumes by Ariel Cohen, the company presented a short preview to the press on Monday. Although the cast is large, the rapport among the dancers often lends the work an intimate feel and effectively draws the viewer into the world onstage. Sadeh21 premieres on May 25 and continues its run in Jerusalem through May 27.

Naharin is not the only well-known Israeli choreographer premiering work in the Israel Festival. On May 28-29, choreographer Nimrod Freed and composer Israel Breit will unveil La, a work for four singers and three dancers. Drawing on their respective backgrounds in dance and theater, longtime partners Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor will debut Ship of Fools on June 9.

Video: Merce Cunningham Dance Company

Two years after Merce Cunningham’s death, the legendary choreographer’s company is appearing in the Israel Festival as part of its worldwide Legacy Tour. On June 6, the Sherover Theater will host the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s performance of Split Sides (2003) and Sounddance (1975), while the Israel Museum will be the site of several Events – programs including excerpts of Cunningham’s renowned repertory – on June 9-11.

Merce Cunningham’s Events. Photo by Anna Finke.

Besides these performances, a series of lectures, discussions, and workshops called MerceCampus will be offered at Bezalel, Yaffo 23 in conjunction with the Jerusalem Season of Culture. Sessions include a workshop with Dance Forms, the computer software used by Cunningham to compose his dances; film screenings and performances of music by Cunningham’s famed partner John Cage; and conversations with the company’s dancers and artistic director. Entry to MerceCampus programming is free, and the full schedule in English is available here.

Video: The Danish Dance Theatre in Tim Rushton’s Kridt

The 2011 Israel Festival will close with the Danish Dance Theatre in two programs. Artistic director Tim Rushton teams up with jazz artist Caroline Henderson for Love Songs on June 15. A mixed bill including Rushton’s Kridt, Enigma, and CaDance will be performed in Jerusalem on June 17 and in Modi’in on June 18.

For more information about programming and ticketing, visit the Israel Festival’s website.

Choreographer Ze’eva Cohen at the Dance Library of Israel

Deborah Friedes Galili — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 21:23:06 +0000

It’s not surprising that as I shifted my focus from ballet to modern dance and began researching both in the U.S. and Israel, I repeatedly came across Ze’eva Cohen’s name. Cohen started her illustrious dancing career in her native Tel Aviv, performing with Bimat Machol and Anna Sokolow’s Lyric Theatre. In 1963, she moved to New York where she studied at Juilliard and appeared as a soloist in Sokolow’s American troupe. A founding member of Dance Theater Workshop, now one of the most prominent institutions in New York’s downtown scene, Cohen launched her solo dance repertory program in 1971; during the next twelve years, she toured the globe, performing not only her own compositions but those of more than twenty artists. She expanded to a group format in 1983 with the establishment of Ze’eva Cohen and Dancers, and she was also invited to work internationally as a guest choreographer, at times returning to Israel for engagements with the Batsheva Dance Company and Inbal Dance Theater. Besides enthralling audiences as a performer and choreographer, Cohen became a pioneering dance educator, creating and directing the dance program at Princeton University.

After years of reading about Cohen’s achievements, I finally met the artist in person last month during the conference Modern Jewish Experience through the Lens of Dance. Introducing a video of her duet Negotiations (2000) for the opening session and later delivering an inspiring, insightful reflection on the Jewish and Israeli aspects of her work, Cohen proved to be as compelling at the lectern as on the stage.

This initial encounter piqued my interest even further, and now I – along with local dance enthusiasts – can look forward to an evening with the artist at the Dance Library of Israel on Thursday, March 10. In a program starting at 8:00 p.m., Cohen will show video and discuss her work as a dancer, choreographer, and founder of Princeton University’s dance program. Places are limited, and spots can be reserved by contacting the library at danceba@mail.tel-aviv.gov.il

The Dance Library of Israel is part of the Beit Ariela library on Shaul Hamelech 25 in Tel Aviv. Doors open for the program at 7:30 p.m.

Can’t make it to the library on Thursday? Get a glimpse of Cohen’s talent in the video excerpt below:

Video: Ze’eva Cohen and Aleta Hayes in Cohen’s Negotiations

Contemporary Israeli Dance Week: Gala in New York

Deborah Friedes Galili — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 19:19:50 +0000

Quiet by Arkadi Zaides. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Heads up, New Yorkers! In June, a wave of contemporary dance from Israel is coming your way as part of the annual La MaMa Moves Festival. The city is already home to an astonishing number of Israeli-born choreographers, and La MaMa’s celebration will include five of these New York-based artists and groups: Deganit Shemy, LeeSaar The Company, Netta Yerushalmy, YelleB Dance Ensemble, and Neta Pulvermacher. But the Contemporary Israeli Dance Week mini-festival is also scheduled to feature a stellar line-up straight from Israel. Yasmeen Godder, Arkadi Zaides, Idan Cohen, Maya Brinner, and the team of Tamar Borer and Tamara Erde will offer a glimpse of the latest in Israeli-made productions, and master classes will give New York dancers a taste of what’s happening in local studios.

On Monday, January 31, a gala evening featuring Deganit Shemy, LeeSaar The Company, Netta Yerushalmy, and YelleB Dance Ensemble will be held at La MaMa E.T.C. (Experimental Club). The gala is a fundraiser for the Contemporary Israeli Dance Week, and more information about tickets can be found at the festival’s website. For those of you who can’t make it to the gala, here’s a sneak peak at the festival with clips of works by Godder, Zaides, Cohen, Brinner,and Borer and Erde.

Video: Preview of Contemporary Israeli Dance Week

International Exposure 2010: Video Preview

Deborah Friedes Galili — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 13:24:29 +0000

Nir Ben-Gal and Liat Dror’s Terminal B. Photo by Naama Nada.

Even though December has started and the shelves of Tel Aviv’s bakeries are lined with sufganiot, the jelly donuts traditionally eaten during Hanukkah, many of Tel Aviv’s residents are still walking around in tank tops and sandals. Unusually hot days and sunny skies have made it easy for the masses to pretend that summer never ended. But for those of us who follow the dance field, there is no denying that the calendar year is coming to a close. The tip-off is in the posters and fliers on display at Suzanne Dellal as well as the press releases and invitations received via e-mail, all announcing the arrival of the annual showcase of Israeli dance: International Exposure.

Nimrod Freed’s Flash. Photo by Itamar Freed.

The exact shape and scope of International Exposure have shifted since its first incarnation sixteen years ago. For many years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it operated in conjunction with Curtain Up, the country’s premiere platform for new works by independent choreographers. The festival has stretched over a varying number of days and welcomed crowds both intimate and large. But throughout, the goal has remained the same: to display the wealth of works premiered over the past year to foreign arts presenters, dignitaries, and journalists in the hopes of sending Israeli dance around the world.

Orly Portal’s Gnawia

International Exposure 2010 will run from Wednesday, December 8 through Sunday, December 12, and the schedule features an enticing array of established companies and independent choreographers. Most of the programs will take place at the Suzanne Dellal Centre, but a number of concerts and informal showings will take place at other performance venues and studios. And while some of the events are offered only to the festival’s guests, many of the shows are open to the public. Below is a guide to the events that are accessible to local dance lovers (and a sneak peek at International Exposure for those of you who are not in town). All shows are at Suzanne Dellal unless otherwise noted.

Wednesday, December 8

Video: Ohad Naharin’s Kyr/Zina

International Exposure starts out with the Batsheva Ensemble, the Batsheva Dance Company’s junior division, performing Ohad Naharin’s Kyr/Zina at 20:00.

Thursday, December 9

Rami Be’er’s Transform. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

International Exposure’s first full day kicks off at 11:00 with the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in Rami Be’er’s new Transform, which premiered during the international Tel Aviv Dance festival this past fall.

Curtain Up 2010 will be represented by three separate bills shown at 16:00, 19:00, and 22:30.

Video: Tamar Borer and Tamara Erde’s Ana

Thursday’s offerings also include a performance of Tamar Borer and Tamara Erde’s latest collaboration, Ana, at 20:30.

Friday, December 10

Friday’s programming includes a fair amount of moving about to different theaters in the area.

Video: The Project in Jacopo Godani’s Light Years.

At 14:00, The Project – a joint initiative by the Suzanne Dellal Centre and the Israeli Opera – will present a mixed bill at the Opera House in the heart of Tel Aviv. The program includes Emanuel Gat’s Through the Center, Jacopo Godani’s Light Years, and Marco Goeke’s Supernova.

Video: Vertigo in Mana

Vertigo Dance Company presents a hit from last year, Mana, at the Givatayim Theater at 17:00. Choreographed by Noa Wertheim, Mana premiered during the twentieth anniversary of the Curtain Up festival.

Video: Maria Kong in Miss Brazil

Maria Kong reprises its program from the Tel Aviv Dance festival, Miss Brazil, at 21:00 at Suzanne Dellal. The company’s four founders – Anderson Braz, Talia Landa, Leo Lerus, and Ya’ara Moses – collaborated on the first half of the bill, Miss, while guest choreographer Idan Cohen contributed the second half, Brazil.

Saturday, December 11

Saturday is primarily a day of mixed bills, titled Exposures, that feature both shorter dances in their entirety alongside excerpts from full-evening works.

Video: Yoram Karmi’s Particle Accelerator

Exposure 1, at 11:00, features Fresco Dance Group in an excerpt from the evening-length Particle Accelerator. The bill is rounded out by Rachel Erdos’s OU’.

Video: Rachel Erdos’s OU’

Odelya Kuperberg’s Tzitzushka.

At 13:00, Exposure 2 will include Odelya Kuperberg’s Tzitzushka and a new work from Idan Sharabi.

Video: Liat Dror’s Terminal B

Nir Ben-Gal and Liat Dror bring their company from Mizpe Ramon to show Dror’s Terminal B at 14:00.

Video: Mami Shimazaki’s Loop People

At 15:00, Mami Shimizaki’s Loop People shares the bill with Orly Portal’s Gnawia in Exposure 3.

Video: Kamea Dance Company in Tamir Ginz’s Srul

The day finishes at 22:30 with Exposure 4, featuring Kamea Dance Company in an excerpt from Tamir Ginz’s Srul along with Nimrod Freed’s Flash.

Sunday, December 12

Video: Sharon Eyal’s Bill

After a whirlwind of performances, International Exposure 2010 closes with Batsheva Dance Company in Sharon Eyal’s Bill.

Curtain Up 2010: Video Preview

Deborah Friedes Galili — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 07:13:38 +0000

Dana Ruttenberg’s Private I’s premieres in Curtain 3. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

In its 21-year history, Curtain Up – Israel’s primary platform for premieres by independent Israeli choreographers – has cycled through a series of artistic directors and experimented with different formats. To celebrate two decades of the festival’s existence in 2009, six alumni of Curtain Up created new works and selected up-and-coming choreographers to share their evenings. Now, in a development of last year’s innovative programming, this year’s artistic directors are four artists who have previously shown their work in Curtain Up: Tamar Borer, Ronit Ziv, Renana Raz, and Sahar Azimi. Each veteran choreographer is overseeing an evening-long program of new works by emerging choreographers, providing a valuable outside eye for the creators on his or her bill. With this setup, Curtain Up has added a layer of artistic support to the financial assistance that has long been a major benefit of participation in the festival.

Iris Erez’s Homesick is featured in Curtain 1. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

This year’s line-up of choreographers includes some faces familiar to Curtain Up audiences. Iris Erez was featured last year on Yasmeen Godder’s curtain, Elad Schechter shared the stage in 2009 with Vertigo Dance Company, and Maya Brinner showed her work on Noa Dar’s 2009 program; meanwhile, Michael Getman presented his work in previous seasons of Curtain Up. Other artists in this year’s festival have shown their recent works in Tmuna Theater’s annual Intimadance and in Shades of Dance, a biennial platform for new choreographers that often serves as a stepping stone to Curtain Up.

Shlomi Frige’s Rashomon premieres in Curtain 4. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Besides the four programs, this year’s Curtain Up includes an array of events that encourage interaction between the artists and the wider public. Conversations with the artistic directors and choreographers will precede some of the performances, and a series of workshops will be held in conjunction with the Amuta (the Choreographer’s Society). The culminating event of Curtain Up 2010 is a landmark symposium geared to spark conversation about dance and the body. Organized by Yael Nativ, this symposium will be held on Friday, December 3 in Jaffa at the Teiva, 19 Sderot Yerushalayim, from 9:00 until 1:30 in the afternoon. The first session will contain more academic discussions of selected topics, and the second session will feature four dialogues between dance scholars and each of the artistic directors of this year’s Curtain Up festival. Admission is free to the public.

Rotem Tashach’s Monuments is featured in Curtain 2. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Dance lovers in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem can catch the four curtains in late November and early December at bargain prices – tickets are a mere 60 NIS. The Curtain Up programs will tour later this season to other areas around Israel, including Kfar Blum and potentially Dimona. And if you’re not in Israel – or if you just want a sneak peek at what you’ll see onstage soon – check out the video preview of each curtain below!

Curtain 1

Directed by Tamar Borer, Curtain 1 features works by Iris Erez and Michael Getman.

Performance schedule:
Suzanne Dellal: November 25 and December 3
Jerusalem Theatre: December 2

Video: Iris Erez’s Homesick

Video: Michael Getman’s Father and Feather

Curtain 2

Ronit Ziv served as the artistic director for Curtain 2, which includes works by Tammy and Ronen Itzhaki, Rotem Tashach, and Ofra Idel.

Performance schedule:
Suzanne Dellal: November 24 and December 2
Jerusalem Theatre: December 1

Video: Ofra Idel’s Horse Tail

Video: Tammy and Ronen Itzhaki’s Have You Done

Video: Rotem Tashach’s Monuments

Curtain 3

Under the artistic direction of Renana Raz, Curtain 3 features the work of three female choreographers: Gili Navot-Friedman, Maya Brinner, and Dana Ruttenberg.

Performance schedule:
Suzanne Dellal: November 27 and December 1
Jerusalem Theatre: November 29

Video: Maya Brinner’s The Show

Video: Dana Ruttenberg’s Private I’s

Video: Gili Navot-Friedman’s Check-in

Curtain 4

Three male choreographers – Ariel Cohen, Elad Schechter, and Shlomi Frige – will show their work in Curtain 4, under the artistic direction of Sahar Azimi.

Performance schedule:
Suzanne Dellal: November 26 and December 4
Jerusalem Theatre: November 30

Video: Elad Schechter’s Funis

Video: Ariel Cohen’s The Battle for the 21st Century’s Love

Video: Shlomi Frige’s Rashomon

The Project: Repertory Returns to Israeli Dance

Deborah Friedes Galili — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 19:07:30 +0000

Video: The Project in Emanuel Gat’s Through the Center

Although repertory companies once dominated the Israeli modern dance scene, troupes showcasing work by one or two contemporary choreographers have reigned supreme from the 1990s onwards. But repertory is returning to the Israeli concert stage with The Project, a cooperative venture by the Suzanne Dellal Centre and the Israeli Opera.

The Project. Photo by Eyal Landesman.

The Project benefits from an experienced creative team. Yair Vardi, director of Suzanne Dellal, and Hannah Munitz, general director of the Israeli Opera, are serving as artistic directors, and the manager is Mate Moray, a former soloist with the Israel Ballet who also directs the dance program in Matan. More than 260 dancers auditioned, and 13 were selected to participate in The Project.

For the last several months, the newly formed group trained together in ballet and learned three dances by choreographers based in Europe: Emanuel Gat’s Through the Center, Jacopo Godani’s Light Years, and Marco Goeke’s Supernova. Although the repertory draws on the clean lines and technical virtuosity of ballet, each work has a distinctive, contemporary feel. Audiences can enjoy the spread of dance when The Project debuts at the Opera House in Tel Aviv on November 30. A repeat performance will be held on December 10, also at the Opera House.

Fresco Dance Company: Particle Accelerator

Deborah Friedes Galili — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 11:05:05 +0000

Video: Trailer for Fresco Dance Group in Yoram Karmi’s Particle Accelerator

This article is a guest post by Lindsay Reich. Enjoy!

* * *

On Sunday, October 31st, the Fresco Dance Company, with artistic direction and choreography by Yoram Karmi, performed their newest and most critically acclaimed work, Particle Accelerator, at the Suzanne Dellal Center to a completely full house. All aspects of the performance were outstanding and made a lasting impression on the audience.

The theme of technology, acknowledged in the title, remained consistent throughout the work, which also explored human relationships and emotion. The use of the stage, particularly the stage elevator, created an industrial setting and contributed to a captivating duet dealing with the opposition between technology and the desire to feel human emotion. Throughout the piece, the use of simple daily actions contrasted the high-energy movement and provided insight into human tendencies and desires. For example, the piece began with a single dancer vacuuming the stage, embodying the frustration with run-down technology. Later, during a “lunch break” in the middle of the work, the dancer amplified the feeling of loneliness by attempting to converse with a dummy. The contrast between moments of human emotions embodied in beautifully choreographed duets and solos versus the uniformity and precise movement of the entire group helped to develop an engaging and thoughtful theme.

Fresco Dance Group in Yoram Karmi’s Particle Accelerator. Photo by Vera Vladimirsky.

Also exceptional in the performance was the intricate movement vocabulary executed with precise technique by the dancers. With a few new cast members since the premiere of the work, including dancers Britian Jackson and Sela Freed, the company worked together in skillful unison and generated an exciting energy easily shared with the audience. The movement incorporated challenging ballet vocabulary mixed with original and detailed choreography, creating a delightful and captivating performance.

Upcoming Performances

The Fresco Dance Company will be performing Particle Accelerator again at the Suzanne Dellal Center on December 11^th at 11:00 a.m. as a part of the International Exposure festival. Tickets can be purchased at the box office: 03-5105656.

There will also be another performance on December 22^nd at the Holon Theatre at 8:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the box office: 03-5023001.

About the Author

Lindsay Reich was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois in the northern suburbs of Chicago. She spent her childhood studying dance at Fisher Dance Center in ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip hop and tap. She continued her study of dance and environmental studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she began choreographing and developing many projects. Since arriving in Israel after graduation, she has held contact improvisation workshops at Kfar Sagol Eco-Village and will be teaching dance classes at the Ariel School in Hod HaSharon. The Ariel School offers classes in all forms of artistic expression, please call for more information: 09-7604567 or 052-6554629.

Anna Halprin in Israel

Deborah Friedes Galili — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:48:34 +0000

Anna Halprin. Photo by John Kokuska.

The legendary Anna Halprin will be visiting Israel this month as a Fulbright Senior Specialist Program Fellow, with the financial support of the U.S. Department of State and the partnership of the United States-Israel Educational Foundation. Students at both the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and Seminar Hakibbutzim in Tel Aviv will enjoy lectures, demonstrations, and workshops led by Halprin, a groundbreaking choreographer and trailblazer in the field of expressive arts healing.

The general public can also be inspired by Halprin’s pioneering work by viewing Ruedi Gerber’s documentary about the choreographer. The film, Breath Made Visible, will open the Spirit Film Festival at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and will also be screened at the Jerusalem Cinematheque.

Video: Trailer for Breath Made Visible

To catch the full film, head to the cinematheques! The schedule is as follows:

Tel Aviv
Thursday, Oct. 14, 21:00 – Screening of Breath Made Visible, followed by Q&A (opening of the Spirit Film Festival)
Friday, Oct. 15, 16.30: Screening of Breath Made Visible
Saturday, Oct. 16, 21:00 – Screening of Breath Made Visible, followed by Q&A, brief performance and movement activity

Jerusalem
Thursday, Oct. 21, 19:00 – Screening of Breath Made Visible, followed by Q&A

Tel Aviv Dance 2010

Deborah Friedes Galili — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 09:37:55 +0000

Video: Preview of Tel Aviv Dance 2010

Four years after its founding, the Tel Aviv Dance festival – an outgrowth and expansion of the earlier Dance Europa festival – is now an eagerly anticipated annual staple of Israel’s jam-packed dance calendar. From October 4-30, dance lovers can take a whirlwind world tour of exciting, exceptionally diverse dance from the comfort of two local dance hubs, the Suzanne Dellal Centre and the Israeli Opera – Tel Aviv Performing Arts Centre (TAPAC).

Yair Vardi (director of Suzanne Dellal) and Hannah Munitz (director of the Opera House) declared in a press release, “As each year in the festival, we try to keep the Israeli audience up to date and present contemporary dance from all over the world, including intriguing, far-away places. This year the festival will host premieres from dance companies from South Africa, South Korea, and China alongside those from the U.S., Canada, France, and Israel.”

The numbers are indeed impressive: by the end of the festival, 12 companies from 9 countries will present 34 performances. And the breadth of genres and aesthetics on display is breathtaking. Tel Aviv Dance 2010′s programming runs the gamut from hip-hop to ballet and offers lavish large-scale works alongside more intimate and modest approaches.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Sutra. Photo by Hugo Glendinning. Photo courtesy of Ora Lapidot PR.

Tel Aviv Dance 2010′s lineup includes some of the biggest names, old and new, in modern and contemporary dance. From Belgium hails Eastman, a young company headed by the acclaimed Flemish-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Eastman will offer Aleko, Faun, and a new work at Suzanne Dellal. Cherkaoui’s striking Sutra, a collaboration with sculptor Antony Gormley, composer Szymon Braska, and monks from the Shaolin Temple in China, will also be performed at the Opera.

The U.S. modern dance powerhouse Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will also visit the Opera, bringing not only Ailey’s masterpiece Revelations but also George Faison’s Suite Otis, Ronald K. Brown’s Dancing Spirit, and Robert Battle’s Unfold.

Kader Attou’s Petites Histoires.com. Photo courtesy of Ora Lapidot PR.

Hip-hop also makes a few appearances on this year’s program. The French troupe Accrorap brings Algerian choreographer Kader Attou’s PetitesHistoires.com, while ten male dancers from South Korea will offer Shin Chang Ho’s No Comment. On the same bill with No Comment is Kim Jin-Mi’s A Body Conflicting with Emotion, a work for four women.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Carmina Burana. Photo courtesy of Ora Lapidot PR.

Some ballet influence is visible as well in Tel Aviv Dance 2010′s lineup. From Canada hails the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Mauricio Wainrot’s Carmina Burana and Peter Quanz’s In Tandem. 10 principal dancers from the acclaimed New York City Ballet present a program called To Dance, with excerpts of works by George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, and Tom Gold.

Dada Masilo’s Carmen. Photo courtesy of Ora Lapidot PR.

Rising star Dada Masilo, a 24-year-old dancer and choreographer from South Africa, has also revealed a predilection towards ballet influences in her work. For Tel Aviv Dance, Masilo brings her dance theater work Carmen to Suzanne Dellal.

Also among this year’s offerings is the Spanish dancer and choreographer Miguel Angel Berna’s sweeping Goya, inspired by painter Francisco Goya.

Maria Kong in Miss Brazil. Photo by Ascaf.

Dance from Israel forms a strong presence in this year’s programming. Barak Marshall’s Rooster, which was a success at the Opera House during Tel Aviv Dance 2009, will make an appearance in 2010 at Suzanne Dellal. Batsheva Dance Company will present house choreographer Sharon Eyal’s Bill, which debuted last May, while the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company will unveil Rami Be’er’s newest work, Transform. Maria Kong Dancers Company, a collective of dancer-choreographers Anderson Braz, Talia Landa, Leo Lerus, and Ya’ara Moses, will offer their own creation Miss as well as Brazil by Idan Cohen.

For a more in depth look at what is in store during Tel Aviv Dance, check out the longer video below. The clips are, in order, Accrorap, Shin Chang Ho, Kim Jin-Mi, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Dada Masilo, Barak Marshall, New York City Ballet, Batsheva Dance Company, Eastman, Miguel Angel Berra, Winnipeg Royal Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Maria Kong, and Eastman.

Israeli Dance at Summer Festivals Abroad

Deborah Friedes Galili — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:40:35 +0000

Ohad Naharin’s Hora. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

While SummerDance 2010 has presented an array of Israeli dance at home, a number of Israeli choreographers and companies have also performed at prestigious festivals abroad. For those of you who missed seeing them live – or want to relive the experience of being in the audience – here are excerpts of some of the works that toured the world.

In July, Batsheva Dance Company brought Ohad Naharin’s Hora (2009) to France’s Montpellier Danse, which co-produced the work.

In June, the Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak Dance Company toured their signature work Oyster (1999) to Durham, North Carolina, for the American Dance Festival (ADF).

At ADF, Avshalom Pollak talked about the nature of his work with Inbal Pinto and the unique mix of elements which shape each dance.

Barak Marshall’s Monger (2008) made its American debut at Jacob’s Pillow in Beckett, Massachusetts. Monger is scheduled to tour the U.S. in April-May 2011, with appearances at the Joyce Theater in New York; White Bird in Portland, Oregon; UCLA’s Royce Hall; and additional performances in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and West Palm Beach.

At Jacob’s Pillow, Barak Marshall talked about confronting anti-Israeli sentiment on tour and presenting a different side of Israeli culture to foreign audiences.

More About Vertigo Dance Company & the Eco-Art Village

Deborah Friedes Galili — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:11:55 +0000

Vertigo Dance Company in Noa Wertheim’s Mana. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

With a studio in Jerusalem rather than Tel Aviv and another home base in the form of an Eco-Art Village on Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Hey, Vertigo Dance Company is certainly far from ordinary. But what makes Vertigo even more of a standout is the exceptional artistry and socially conscious vision of its artistic directors, Noa Wertheim and Adi Sha’al.

From the very start, the couple’s striking choreography made an impression on the local dance scene. The pair’s first duet, Vertigo, drew not only from Sha’al’s own experience in the air force but also considered the feeling of dizziness within the context of personal relationships; the work garnered them the 1992 On the Way to London award from the British Council. The following year, their multimedia duet Contact Lenses won the first prize in the prestigious Shades of Dance festival for emerging choreographers.

As Wertheim and Sha’al expanded the ensemble of their Vertigo Dance Company, they became known for making daringly athletic work that explored deeply human issues. The company’s repertory also shattered the conventions of traditional concert dance. The Power of Balance (2001), a collaboration with British choreographer Adam Benjamin, integrated the group’s regular roster of dancers with disabled dancers. Placing mankind’s relationship to the environment at its core, Birth of the Phoenix (2004) abandoned the theater for the outdoors, with the dancers performing on a dirt ground under a geodesic dome.

In June, Vertigo performed a trilogy of recent works – the iconic Birth of the Phoenix, the supremely energetic White Noise (2008), and the magnificent Mana (2009) – at the Israel Festival in Jerusalem. Now the company is bringing these three stellar dances to the Suzanne Dellal Center as part of the SummerDance 2010 festival with performances running from August 2 to August 4. As a bonus, the performance of White Noise on June 3 will be followed by a meeting with the artists.

Want to learn more about this unique group? Here are several videos with footage of interviews at the Eco-Art Village and the dances from the trilogy as well as Vertigo and Noa Wertheim’s appearance at the TedxTelAviv event.

Below is a video about Vertigo Dance Company’s Eco-Art Village, with brief clips primarily of Noa Wertheim’s Birth of the Phoenix.

In this next video, artistic directors Noa Wertheim and Adi Sha’al as well as some of Vertigo’s dancers talk about working in the Eco-Art Village. Many of the dance excerpts are from Wertheim’s White Noise.

Vertigo and Noa Wertheim were part of TedxTelAviv, which was held on April 26, 2010 at the Jaffa port. The video below includes an excerpt from White Noise, followed by Wertheim discussing her move to the Eco-Art Village and her philosophy. The video closes with an excerpt of Mana.

Nir Ben-Gal of Adama Gives an Inspiring Interview

Deborah Friedes Galili — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:10:27 +0000

Nir Ben-Gal and Liat Dror in Two Room Apartment. Courtesy Nir Ben-Gal and Liat Dror.

(This podcast was initially produced for Israel Seen in 2008. You can subscribe to this podcast using the iTunes software by clicking this link to the podcast feed.)

I still remember my visit to Adama in April 2008 quite vividly. After soaking in some of the calm of the dance center’s desert surroundings, I switched gears and entered a whirlwind of activity: taking class with Liat Dror, interviewing her, observing more goings-on, and improvising in an evening jam. As if the day wasn’t stimulating enough, I then sat down with Nir Ben-Gal for another interview.

When I turned off the digital voice recorder that evening at midnight, I offered Nir a heartfelt thanks for speaking with me. Not only had he been generous with his time and energy – we started the interview late at night, after he had led the warm-up for Adama’s spirited jam – but he was extraordinarily generous with his thoughts and his passion. Besides talking about his pathway into dance, his creative process, and the workings of Adama, Nir shared his outlook on dance, religion, culture, healing, and non-violence. It was an inspiring conversation that continues to surface in my thoughts even outside of my research. May you be similarly moved!

Video: Adama in Liat Dror and Nir Ben-Gal’s Airfield

Interested in visiting Adama? Adama is hosting a Magic Summer Night from July 16-17, which includes a performance of the company’s latest work.

Other Podcasts on Dance In Israel

Bridge: Choreographic Dialogues 2010

Deborah Friedes Galili — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 06:20:14 +0000

Video: Bridge: Choreographic Dialogues 2009

“My personal aim is to really create an Impulstanz type of workshop program in Israel,” says Barak Marshall, choreographer and artistic director of Bridge: Choreographic Dialogues. “Ideally, that’s really where I want to take this festival. I think it’s necessary, and I think that the time is right for us to have an international dance festival.”

It’s an ambitious goal, but as Bridge: Choreographic Dialogues grows and evolves each year, it’s also one that is perfectly logical and increasingly attainable.

From its start, Bridge was centered on building strong international connections. In 2006, Miki Yerushalmi of the Jewish Federation’s Tel Aviv/Los Angeles Partnership approached Barak Marshall about creating a dance program. Marshall, who currently splits his time between the two cities, recruited UCLA and the Suzanne Dellal Center as partners and developed what he calls a “choreographic exchange program.” During the summers of 2007, 2008, and 2009, L.A.-based choreographers – often working in diverse forms absent from the Israeli scene, such as hip-hop and kathak dance – traveled to Tel Aviv to teach two-week workshops with Israeli dancers. Meanwhile, in May 2008, Ronit Ziv, Niv Sheinfeld, and Idan Cohen shared their artistry with L.A. dancers in a similar intensive. Plans are in the works for more Israeli choreographers to teach and perform in L.A. in the future.

Here in Israel, the Bridge summer course is becoming an annual highlight of the Tel Aviv’s bustling dance scene, providing an infusion of wide-ranging workshops with a world-renowned visiting faculty. This summer, about 100 dancers – including 5 students from the prestigious CalArts dance department, a handful of other dancers from the U.S. and Europe, and tens of Israelis from around the country – are expected to study with the most international roster of teachers yet. “I really wanted to for a very long time bring a more European influence into the course,” explains Marshall of his decision to expand the faculty from its original L.A. base. Among this year’s teachers are Damien Jalet, who has risen to prominence as a choreographer within the Belgian collective Les Ballets C. de la B. and as the co-director of Eastman alongside Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui; Lisi Estradas, a Spanish-trained former Batsheva Ensemble dancer who also works with Les Ballets C. de la B.; and Michal Mualem, who danced with several local choreographers before joining Sasha Waltz & Guests and creating her own productions with her partner Giannalberto de Filippis. “These are 3 international and incredible artists, and I went very consciously after them to come and do the course,” Marshall reflects.

Further adding international flavor to this year’s Bridge are South Korean choreographer Chuck Park, the Paris Opera Ballet’s Bruno Bouché, and Caracas Ballet founder Maria Barrios Zaks. Even the teachers who are fixtures on the local scene, like Naomi Perlov, Jay Augen, and Marshall himself, boast a significant record of international work.

The diversity of the faculty pays dividends for Bridge’s dancers. “What I’m really trying to expose the dancers to are just a myriad of different ways of moving, a myriad of vocabularies and knowledges,” states Marshall. Classes in ballet, contemporary technique, and contemporary repertory as well as choreographic workshops allow dancers to work with multiple teachers, sample a variety of styles, and broaden their horizons. With this particular select faculty, even a single teacher may expose dancers to a range of movement. Marshall highlights Jalet’s “cross-cultural approach,” marveling that he and Cherkaoui mix “theater with ethnic movement with release with acrobatics; it’s just endless, the world he brings!”

Besides expanding the participants’ physical abilities, Bridge: Choreographic Dialogues 2010 will challenge dancers to develop their artistry as active members of the choreographic process. Marshall remarks, “The emphasis this year is the dancer as creator . . . these other choreographers really have a very democratic and dancer-as-creator mode of creation, so what I hope to really offer to the participants is to open their eyes to their abilities as a creator, not just as an interpreter.” Furthermore, Marshall notes that Bridge has served as a launching pad for dancers’ careers, enabling them to meet both local and visiting choreographers and fostering strong professional connections. Marshall himself has found several dancers for his recent works Monger and Rooster through Bridge.

The stimulating interaction runs both ways, with not only the dancers but also the choreographers benefiting from the mix of participants and approaches. Most of all, Marshall explains, foreign choreographers who have taught at Bridge have discovered what he calls “the wow of the Israeli dancer and the Israeli artist and the Israeli soul.” He elaborates, “Everybody who has participated in the three previous workshops came with their own preconceptions of Israel, first of all, and consequently of the Israeli dancer, from their limited knowledge. I know that everybody has gone away with this deep impression about the power of Israeli dancers. And I’m always very, very proud of that; I think that Israeli dancers offer something [that is] so powerful and overwhelming and all-encompassing.”

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*This post was made possible thanks to a Fulbright student grant funded by the U.S.-Israel Educational Foundation and hosted by the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.

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