Yasmeen Godder’s I’m Mean I Am. Photo by Tamar Lamm.

Suzanne Dellal’s next show boasts quite an impressive roster of choreographers and performers.  It’s not every day that you find these names on the same bill: Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal, Rami Be’er, Inbal Pinto & Avshalom Pollak, Ido Tadmor, Yasmeen Godder, Nir Ben Gal & Liat Dror, Emanuel Gat, Noa Wertheim, Rina Schenfeld, Renana Raz, Sahar Azimi, Arkadi Zaides, Idan Cohen, Tamar Borer, Talia Paz, Michael Gatman, Michael Miler, Sally-Anne Friedland, Dana Ruttenberg, Amit Goldenberg & Ya’ara Dolev, Saar Harari, Iris Erez, Silvia Duran, Elina Pechersky, Doron Raz, Luc Jacobs, Ron Amit & Mor Shani, Shani Garfinkel, and Mami Shimizaki.

But while audiences are used to watching these choreographers’ creations onstage, this show transports their dances to a new territory: the walls.  The show is Photodance, an exhibit of photography celebrating the many productions presented during the Suzanne Dellal Center’s twenty-year history.

Luc Jacobs’ Oole Boole.  Photo by Ascaf.

For Photodance, curator Hadas Maor has assembled an array of striking photographs capturing moments in performance, in rehearsal, and in staged photo shoots.  Contributing photographers include Gadi Dagon, Michal Hayman, Li Yanor, Vardi Cahana, Tamar Lamm, Eyal Landsman, Pnina Even-Tal, Emmanuel Ogdan, Ascaf, Amit Berlovich, Kfir Bolotin, Ran Biran, Adi Mazan, Itay Marom, Avi Nathan, Daniel Chechik, and Ron Kedmi.

Silvia Duran.  Photo by Deddy Lifshitz.

As part of Suzanne Dellal’s 20th anniversary celebrations, Photodance fittingly displays the variety and wealth of Israeli dance which has been nurtured at the center.  Contemporary dance – the hallmark of Israel’s growing dance scene – is highlighted, but other forms including flamenco and Middle Eastern dance are also represented in the photographs.  Large, established companies like the Batsheva Dance Company and the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company are showcased alongside budding independent choreographers such as Michael Miler, Iris Erez, and Dana Ruttenberg.  And notably, some of the dances featured in Photodance were created for the Suzanne Dellal Center’s beloved festivals, including Curtain Up and Shades of Dance.

Ron Amit and Mor Shani’s Lu Carmela. Photo by Kfir Bolotin.

Choreography by Sahar Azimi.  Photo by Eyal Landesman.

Choreography by Amit Goldenberg and Ya’ara Dolev.  Photo by Adi Mazan.

Information about the Exhibit

Photodance opens to the public on Thursday, September 3rd at 6:00 p.m. and will remain open for several hours each day through September 7th.  For the exhibit’s exact hours, please check the Events calendar.  On September 8th, Simon de Pury of the Phillips de Pury & Company auction house will conduct an auction of the photographs; all proceeds will support Israeli dance.

Renana Raz in Amit Goldenberg and Ya’ara Dolev’s Dede Dance Company.  Photo by Adi Mazan.

Addendum (September 3rd)

This morning I attended a preview of the exhibit which was open for journalists, and happily, I was able to bring along my parents and cousins who are visiting Israel.  As we walked through the two dance studios which have been artfully transformed into gallery spaces, I had the pleasure of seeing Photodance through two distinctly different lenses: my own and that of my family.

For me, having spent so much time researching the development of Israeli contemporary dance, it was incredible to see a collection of photographs which documented several landmark works and captured the central players in the field.  While looking at photographs from the late 1980s and early 1990s, I marveled at the younger images of choreographers whom I have interviewed – such as Liat Dror and Nir Ben Gal – and I caught glimpses of how their aesthetic has transformed.

For my family, who is new to the scene, the exhibit was like a magical kaleidescope revealing the many colors of Israeli concert dance in one quick turn of the studios.  It was fascinating to see which photographs caught their eye, and it was fun to see them make connections between very different photographs of the same artists.

This retrospective represents just a small slice of all the activity at Suzanne Dellal over the last 20 years.  It’s incredible to think how the field of dance has blossomed since the opening of the center – and I can’t help but wonder what will come in the next 20 years.

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• Tel Aviv’s 100th + Suzanne Dellal’s 20th = The Big Stage
• Remembering Big Performances at Suzanne Dellal’s Big Stage

Related Links

• Suzanne Dellal Center

Video: An excerpt from Airfield, Liat Dror and Nir Ben-Gal’s latest creation

Nir Ben-Gal and Liat Dror first burst onto the stage with Two Room Apartment in 1987, and they continued to create a stir with their choreography throughout the 1990s.  But when I got to Tel Aviv last year, the couple was nowhere to be found.

It’s not that Nir and Liat disappeared from the country’s dance scene.  They just carved out a non-traditional space for themselves in Mizpe Ramon, a small desert town a few hours southeast from Tel Aviv.  There, in a place they call Adama (“earth”), they live, teach, and create.

Occasionally the pair still brings their company to Tel Aviv for performances.  After months of hearing a bit about Nir and Liat, I finally got to see their Prince Charming in November 2007 at Tmuna Theater.  But to find out more about Adama, I decided to venture into the desert for a visit in January 2008.  And then again in April 2008.  And, well, again in June 2008.

I first wrote the article below for The Winger after my second stay at Adama.

* * *

My Visit to Adama (April 2008)

One of the spectacular views in Mizpe Ramon, in Israel’s Negev Desert.

The entrance to Adama, an old industrial hangar in Mizpe Ramon which has been converted into a dance center.

The grounds at Adama, complete with a garden tended by the dancers.

Indoor tepees for sleeping at Adama.

The lounge area near the large studio at Adama.

The dance jam session on Saturday night in the large studio at Adama.

I just returned from a brief trip to a magical place in the middle of the Negev desert.  Situated in the town of Mizpe Ramon, the site of an enormous and beautiful crater, Adama (which means “earth” in Hebrew) is hands down the most unique dance center I have ever visited.   Acclaimed choreographers Liat Dror and Nir Ben Gal left Tel Aviv in 1999 to forge a new path in the south of Israel, where they renovated an abandoned industrial hangar.  Today, Adama has beautiful studios, welcoming lounges, communal sleeping spaces as well as more private indoor tepees and rooms made of mud, a vegetarian kitchen, a garden, and more . . .

Besides transforming the physical space around them, Liat and Nir have developed an approach to dancing which, coming from inside, is potentially healing for the body.   When I took class from them on Sunday and Monday, I spent a lot of time with my eyes closed, tuning into my breath and weight. Liat prefaced a lot of her directions with “Very gently . . .,” while Nir frequently reminded us to move without effort and instructed us to walk softly, using the image of placing our heart in our feet.  Although I was quite sore and tight at the end of last week, I have to say, I feel great now!

Like other visitors – the center often attracts individuals who drop in throughout the year as well as groups who come for special workshops – I was able to participate fully in the Adama school’s activities, which run from Sunday to Tuesday.  Classes range from contemporary technique, yoga, flamenco, African dance, and aerial dance to reflexology and basket weaving (I got to watch a class on my first visit in January!).  Sunday evenings always include an open dance jam, while Monday evenings often feature showings and discussions.

Before classes begin in the morning, everyone works on a variety of projects in the garden and on the grounds (this morning I lashed branches to a wooden structure to create some shade).  Company dancers are also in residence on these days, taking and teaching classes as well as rehearsing for new productions.  There’s a wonderful exchange of information and energy among all the people in this community – and indeed, with group meals, many inviting communal areas, and cozy on-site sleeping spaces, Adama feels very much like a community despite the ever-shifting makeup of its inhabitants.

I could go on and on about this marvelous place and my experience there, but I’ll stop for now.  On this trip, I interviewed Liat and Nir for my podcast series, and soon I’ll post the audio here so you can hear them reflect about Adama themselves.

Many thanks to Liat, Nir, Reut, Etty, and everyone else at Adama for an unforgettable start to my week!

* * *

Upcoming Events at Adama

Adama is holding both a summer workshop (July 13-17) and a teachers’ course (July 26-30).  Read more about these events at Adama’s website.

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• ” ‘Then and Now’ Brings Old and New Together at Shades of Dance” – a bit about Two Room Apartment
• “Dance in the Desert: Shavuot at Adama”

Related Links

• Adama

*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.

Video: The Batsheva Ensemble in Ohad Naharin’s Seder.

Last year I had the privilege and the pleasure of accompanying the Batsheva Ensemble on a trip to the town of Kiryat Shmona for two school shows of Ohad Naharin’s Seder.   My photo journal and account of the day – originally titled “A Day in the Life: The Batsheva Ensemble in Kiryat Shmona” – was initially published on The Winger on May 18, 2008.  I’m re-posting it here so that you can get a behind-the-scenes peak into the company’s workings.

But before you read about the company’s activities last year, here’s some fresh news: the Batsheva Ensemble will be touring this month to Rwanda.  They’ll be performing and doing workshops with children – and, to give something a little more tangible, they plan to donate sneakers.

Help the Batsheva Ensemble Help Teenagers in Rwanda

If you’re in Israel, you can help by donating sneakers (used but in good condition), sizes 37-45.  The sneakers will go to teenaged orphans whose parents died in the genocide.  Visit the Facebook page for this event to learn more, and drop off your old sneakers now through June 16th at Batsheva’s offices in the Suzanne Dellal Center.

* * *

Now read on to learn more about the Batsheva Ensemble!

A Day in the Life: The Batsheva Ensemble in Kiryat Shmona

The costume trunk for Seder.   As a work which lays bare its compositional structure through explicit verbal explanations, repeated visual cues (like the dancers counting to four on their fingers before breaking into four counts of full-bodied movement), and combined aural and visual information (such as a series of movement accumulations performed to similarly accumulating counts), the dance’s title is appropriate: “seder” is Hebrew for “order.”

It’s been a while since I’ve traveled around and performed for school audiences (I did my fair share of Nutcracker school shows with the American Repertory Ballet in the 1990s, from a tiny soldier to Snow and Flowers corps with a lot in between). But I’ve been able to live vicariously through the Batsheva Ensemble this year thanks to Eldad Mannheim, the company’s manager, who invited me to tag along with the group on a few outings.  In January 2008, I joined the Batsheva Ensemble on their trip to Be’ersheva for two morning shows of Ohad Naharin’s Zachacha, and on Monday May 5th (2008), I again accompanied the group as they trekked to Kiryat Shmona for two performances of Naharin’s Seder.

5:55 a.m. Meet the Batsheva Ensemble at the corner of Kaplan and Ibn Gvirol in Tel Aviv. Most of the company members are already snoozing on the bus, and I quickly fall asleep too.

8:30 a.m. Arrive at the theater in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.  Because of it’s proximity to Lebanon, Kiryat Shmona has been hit by rockets during many clashes with the PLO and Hezbollah, and the town suffered many attacks during the war in the summer of 2006.  These performances were sponsored by IDB as a treat for the community’s children, who were no doubt affected by the conflict.

8:35 a.m. Breakfast!  There is a long day ahead, so dancers and crew members fill up on fresh bread, veggies, cheese, tehina, coffee, and tea.

9:00 a.m. Hillel Kogan, one of the Batsheva Ensemble’s rehearsal directors, leads a spacing session onstage.  Ohad Naharin created Seder for the Ensemble, and the work – which features material from MAX, Shalosh (Three in English), and Furo – debuted in July 2007.  The dance can be adapted for anywhere between 12 and 17 dancers; today, 12 Ensemble members are in Kiryat Shmona to perform.  Since the dancers know multiple parts and the cast constantly changes, Hillel clarifies who will be dancing each role for these two shows.

9:45 a.m. Gaga onstage, led by Hillel.  As with class before Zachacha, this class includes plenty of time for the dancers to stretch and incorporates more familiar technical terminology – plié, relevé, passé, rond de jambe, etc. – than is typically included in the lessons open to the general public.  I didn’t dance at all while I was away on a week-long trip to Tunisia, so I’m happy to get to move.  I’m also inspired to be surrounded by such amazing dancers!

10:45 a.m. Local schoolchildren and their teachers arrive at the theater.   The noise level grows . . .

10:50 a.m. Last minute notes by the dressing rooms.  The dancers wear simple gray and black costumes in Seder, but there’s a twist that the audience can’t see: headphones.  Part way through the work, one dancer explains (on a pre-recorded audio track) that the performers can move in unison with such precision even when the audience doesn’t hear music because they are listening to counts, beats, music, and other cues via their ear buds.  Prior to the performance, the group does a sound check to make sure they are working.

11:00 a.m. (-ish – you know how school shows are . . . ) First performance of the day.  Eldad gives a pre-show announcement, and the teachers try to quiet the students as the performance begins.

11:30 a.m. (-ish) The audience gets involved thanks to instructions from a dancer whose head appears on a television screen: put a hand on your heart, put a hand on the back of your neck . . . It’s not a game of Simon Says constructed especially for young audiences – these children are challenged by the same material that adult audience members would see at an evening performance.  How’s that for arts education!

12:00 p.m. (-ish) The first show is over, and the crowd goes wild!

12:20 p.m. Hillel gives notes to the Ensemble backstage while the next group of youngsters fills the auditorium.

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Second performance of Seder for a slightly older crowd.

1:40 p.m. The crew starts to strike the set.  They’ve had a long day – at 1:00 a.m. they gathered all their equipment from Tel Aviv and made their way to the theater in Kiryat Shmona by 4:00 a.m. to lay down the white marley, put up the set’s panels, and take care of all the lighting and sound work.

1:45 p.m. Lunch and time for some fresh air, sunshine, and beautiful mountain views.   From Kiryat Shmona, you can see Lebanon as well as the Golan Heights.

2:00 p.m. Back on the bus to return to Tel Aviv.   Many people take well-deserved naps, but I speak with Hillel and a few of the dancers.   Two-and-a-half hours is a long trip by Israeli standards, and the traffic as we near Tel Aviv makes the ride a little longer.

4:55 p.m. 11 hours later, I’m home!  Almost immediately, I sit down at my computer to upload my photographs and start writing.  Another day’s work . . .

Many thanks to Eldad, Hillel, the Batsheva Ensemble dancers, and the crew!

Related articles about the Batsheva Ensemble on Dance In Israel

• “Getting to Know the Batsheva Ensemble”

Related articles about Ohad Naharin’s choreography on Dance In Israel

• “MAX – Connecting to Ohad Naharin’s Choreography”
• “Mamootot – Challenging the Performer-Spectator Divide”
• “Ohad Naharin’s Deca Dance in Israel: A Cycle Completed”
• “Ohad Naharin to Receive 2009 Scripps/ADF Award”
• “Batsheva Dance Company Premieres Ohad Naharin’s Hora“

Related Articles about Gaga on Dance In Israel

• “Going Gaga: My Introduction to Gaga Dance Classes”
• “Gaga: Ohad Naharin’s Movement Language, in His Own Words”
• “Gaga: A Foreigner Explores Ohad Naharin’s Movement Language”
• “Ohad Naharin on Gaga (Video)”
• “A Glimpse into the Gaga Workshop”

Related Links

• Batsheva Dance Company

*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.

Photo: At Adama’s Shavuot festival in 2008, dancers gathered around for an aerial dance workshop.

While some dancers and movers will gather at Vertigo Dance Company’s Eco-Art Village for the Hagiga festival during Shavuot, others will journey into the Negev desert for a different event: Adama’s Hagiga Levana (White Festival or White Celebration).

Adama is a unique dance center run by choreographers Nir Ben-Gal and Liat Dror (more on them and the center soon, I promise!).  Last year, their Shavuot festival was called Dance in the Desert and was a collaboration with the Amuta or Choreographers Society.  I attended the festival and made a photo journal called “Dance in the Desert” for The Winger; you can check it out below.

This year’s Hagiga Levana will be a smaller and more intimate festival than Dance in the Desert, but it should be no less warm and celebratory.  Attendees can participate in workshops as well as find time for themselves to reflect in the peace of the desert.  They’ll also enjoy a performance of the Adama company’s latest work.  You can visit Adama’s website for more information on this Shavuot event, which will run from May 28-30.

* * *

Dance in the Desert (2008)

Here’s my view of Machol Bamidbar 2008, a collaboration between Adama and the Amuta:

After catching one of two buses chartered from Tel Aviv at 7 a.m. on Friday morning, we were met with this sign welcoming us to the Machol Bamidbar festival.

I think I have a sense of what heaven (or at least dance heaven) looks like.

From Friday through Sunday, I joined a few hundred wonderful people for Machol Bamidbar (Dance in the Desert) at Adama’s incredible space in Mizpe Ramon.  Coordinated by the Amuta (Choreographers Society), the festival brought together many of Israel’s independent choreographers who work outside of the long-established troupes like Batsheva and the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company.  Over 3 days, these choreographers presented 17 concerts featuring over 40 dances and improvisational works.  The festival was also filled with more than 50 classes ranging from contemporary technique, improvisation, and repertory to Afro-Cuban dance, Gaga, flamenco, aerial dance, acrobalance, tai chi, yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais, juggling, and special children’s classes.  After the last performance of each evening, open dance jams stretched late into the night.   It was definitely a weekend to remember!

Here’s a taste of what the festival looked like:

To camping!  Signs were everywhere at Adama, directing attendees to studios, sleeping spaces, and makeshift cafes.

While some people came only for a day or returned to their homes each night, many people stayed at Adama for the entire festival. Some people brought their own tents and set up outside, while others slept in sleeping bags on mattresses spread out inside Adama’s hangar.  It felt like an instant village!

Relaxing from the desert heat and sun.  In between workshops and performances, we lounged here and ate yummy vegetarian fare.  People caught up with old friends and made new ones.

Along with Adama’s usual arty decor, a dance photography exhibit lined the building’s hallways.

Dancers in one of many workshops.  I myself took several classes: Liat Dror’s morning class; repertory classes with choreographers Niv Sheinfeld and Sahar Azimi; and a rep class with material by Liat Dror and Nir Ben-Gal, taught by dancer extraordinaire Ran Ben-Dror.  Since there were 7 classes in each workshop slot, it was often hard to choose which one to attend – they all looked great!

Aerial dance students in action!

A crowd starts to gather before one of many performances.   Besides the main stage, a more intimate space in the hangar next door hosted additional performances (again making it hard to choose . . .), and there were also showings of video dance.   Before each concert, a pair of acrobats raced through the hangar, playfully announcing what would be happening in each concert space.

Dancing with a visiting troupe of drummers and dancers from Africa on Saturday night.  One of the dancers was celebrating a birthday, and the company and crowd surprised her with a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” after their first dance.  Besides this group from Ghana, a company of dancers from Japan (KAYM) was invited by Israeli choreographer Nimrod Freed, and they performed on Sunday.

It does seem like a taste of heaven, doesn’t it?

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• ” ‘Then and Now’ Brings Old and New Together at Shades of Dance” – a bit about Nir Ben-Gal and Liat Dror
• “Celebrating Shavuot through Movement: Hagiga with Vertigo & the Amuta” – another Shavuot festival

Related Links

• Adama

*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.

Michael Miler’s The Speed of Light will be performed in program 1 of Shades of Dance.  Photograph by Eyal Landesman.

Last Saturday night was chilly and wet, but despite the discouraging weather conditions, I bundled up and trekked down to the Suzanne Dellal Center.  Choreographer Micheal Miler of Haifa’s Sigma Ensemble had invited me to a rehearsal for the Shades of Dance festival (called Gvanim in Hebrew).  Shades of Dance is mounted biennially, and since last year was an off year, I had effectively been waiting to attend the festival for over a year and a half.  A little rain wasn’t about to stop me from this special sneak peak.

Since its inception in 1984, Shades of Dance has showcased artists who are relatively fresh to the field of choreography.  It has helped launch the careers of some of Israel’s best-known choreographers including Yasmeen Godder, Inbal Pinto, Emanuel Gat, Ronit Ziv, Barak Marshall,  Renana Raz, Shlomi Bitton, Anat Danieli, Itzhik Galili, Sally-Anne Friedland, Yossi Yungman, Tamar Borer, Liat Dror and Nir Ben-Gal of Adama, Noa Wertheim and Adi Sha’al of Vertigo Dance Company, and Yoram Karmi of Fresco Dance Group.

Perhaps this is why my anticipation of this festival feels different: I can’t help but wonder what new choreographic voices will be revealed this year.  A mind-boggling 80 dances were submitted to the festival’s selection committee, composed of artistic director Hanoch Ben Dror with Ya’ara Dolev, Sally-Anne Friedland, Renana Raz, and Niv Sheinfeld.   I’m looking forward to seeing what sets the 10 chosen works apart from their competition when the 15th Shades of Dance festival opens this week.

Left to right: Shaked Dagan’s We are going back is in program 3; Anat Va’adiya’s Ashetish is in program 1.  Photographs by Eyal Landesman.

If the rehearsal I saw was any indication, this year’s festival has a batch of promising choreographers with very diverse aesthetics.  Michael Miler’s The Speed of Light is one of the most abstract works I have seen since moving to Israel, and it is thoroughly absorbing.  Clad in dark skinny jeans and colorful athletic jackets, Miler and seven other talented dancers maneuver skillfully through a sophisticated movement vocabulary.  As they swiftly skate across the floor and slide to the ground, they appear to be constantly gauging the changing formations of their fellow performers.

The relationship between dancers Adam Ben Zvi and Idan Porges in Shaked Dagan’s We are going back is equally engaging.  At times the well-matched men create a stop-frame effect with their cleverly-timed partnering; at other times they move hypnotically in slow motion.

The other two pieces I saw at Saturday’s rehearsal were worlds apart from each other in their tone. While choreographer/dancer Anat Va’adiya established an unsettling mood for her solo, Dafi Altebab used text and motions from a flight safety presentation to humorous effect in her trio’s quirky scenario.

Dafi Altebab’s new work is in program 3.  Photo by Eyal Landesman.

While I wish I could have stayed for the remainder of the rehearsal, I left early to attend another performance at the Home Port festival.  I suppose that after waiting a year and half to attend Shades of Dance, another few days is bearable!  The festival opens on Wednesday, March 18 with with excerpts of old and recent works by former Shades of Dance participants Nir Ben Gal & Liat Dror, Noa Wertheim & Adi Sha’al, Ronit Ziv, and Barak Marshall.  Then three programs shown back-to-back on Thursday night and Friday afternoon will present the new works from this year’s harvest.

Here are a few more sneak peaks of what will be onstage in the three programs of Shades of Dance 2009:

Anat Meirav’s is in program 2.  Photographs by Eyal Landesman.

From left: Galit Hazor’s Blind Spot is in program 3; Tami and Ron Yitzhaki’s work is in program 2.  Photograph by Eyal Landesman.

Shir Medvetsky’s solo is in program 3.  Photograph by Eyal Landesman.

From left: Ron Amit and Mor Shani’s Lu Carmela; Or Marin’s vanishing point. Photographs by Eyal Landesman.

Related links:

• Dance In Israel’s Events page (with concert information)
• Information on the festival from Suzanne Dellal (in Hebrew)
• Ayelet Dekel’s preview of Shades of Dance in the Jerusalem Post

Bruchim Habaim LeKibbutz Ga’aton – Welcome to Kibbutz Ga’aton, the home of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company

The Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company has enjoyed a strong presence abroad, including a performance at Central Park SummerStage in July 2008, so some of you may have had the good fortune of seeing this energetic group perform.  But you may not know about the company’s unusual background.  As its name suggests, this troupe is based not in a city but on a kibbutz.

What exactly does that mean?

To find out, I traveled north last year to observe the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in its natural habitat.  I first published this photo journal of my visit to Kibbutz Ga’aton on The Winger and on Dance In Israel’s beta version this summer.

* * *

I almost didn’t make it to Kibbtuz Ga’aton today.  After finishing my morning Gaga class in Tel Aviv, I found out that the train was not running from Hadera to Haifa, and I needed to get even further north.  But as they say, when there’s a will, there’s a way!  I caught a ride to the bus station in Tel Aviv, hopped a bus to Haifa, picked up the train from there to Nahariya, and then jumped in a cab to Kibbutz Ga’aton in the Western Galilee.

Why make the effort?

This wasn’t merely an outing to a beautiful part of Israel. Kibbutz Ga’aton is home to the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, one of Israel’s oldest and most renowned modern dance companies. When the taxi pulled up to the kibbutz and I saw this sign outside the company’s office, I exhaled and smiled. It took me several hours today – and more than nine months in total – but I finally made it here!

The kibbutz movement in Israel has undergone a lot of change in recent years. While the kibbutzim used to function in a socialist framework, with everyone working on the grounds and sharing income equally, many of these communities have abandoned the traditional model. On Kibbutz Ga’aton, which has changed with the times, the building which housed the old communal dining hall is being renovated – and new dance studios, such as this one, are being created. Company dancers rent housing on the kibbutz, and though in the early years they labored on the kibbutz like other residents, now they work full-time as professional dancers.

The Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company was founded in 1970 by Yehudit Arnon, who moved to Kibbutz Ga’aton in 1948 after surviving the Holocaust and studying dance in Europe.  Under her direction, the group – known in Israel as the “Kibbutzit” – performed works by leading Israeli and foreign choreographers.  The company toured all over the world and has the posters to prove it!

As I followed the strains of piano music past these posters and into another set of studios, Yehudit – who still serves as the company’s artistic adviser – poked her head out of her office and invited me to watch a bit of the company’s ballet class.  It was a wonderful surprise to meet her and a great treat to see the dancers warming up.  But for what, may you ask, were the dancers preparing? It was 4:15 p.m. when I spied them doing petit allegro!

At 5:00, the company was scheduled to do an open rehearsal of Rami Be’er’s newest work, 60 Hz, which will premiere next week at the opera house in Tel Aviv.  Rami was born on Kibbutz Ga’aton and, as Yehudit proudly told me, he studied dance with her when was a young boy.  A former dancer with the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, he has been its artistic director and primary choreographer since 1996.

I went next door with Yehudit to a small, new theater for the open rehearsal.  Residents of the kibbutz and company staff members filtered into the space, and many of them came over to Yehudit to exchange warm hellos and hugs.   We settled into front row seats and readied ourselves for the run of the dance – which, as with the other works of Rami’s that I have seen, combined highly athletic choreography with visually stunning sets and beautifully designed lighting.

Since the open rehearsal I saw this summer, 60 Hz has been
performed throughout Israel.  The Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company
will bring this production to the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv
from December 29-31.

Todah rabah to Racheli and everyone who helped make my schlep to the north well worth it!

* * *

You can learn more by visiting the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s website and the website for the Galilee Dance Village, an evolving project which will make Ga’aton an even more vibrant center for dance in Israel.   And as always, visit Dance In Israel again for more articles about KCDC coming soon!

*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.

]]> http://www.danceinisrael.com/2008/12/the-kibbutz-contemporary-dance-company-travel-journal/feed/ 5 http://www.danceinisrael.com/2008/12/vertigo-dance-company-art-environment-community/ http://www.danceinisrael.com/2008/12/vertigo-dance-company-art-environment-community/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:15:37 +0000 Deborah Friedes Galili http://thewinger.com/words/2008/art-environment-community-vertigo-dance-company/

A sign pointing towards Vertigo Dance Company’s studio on Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Hey.

With a wealth of theaters and studios, Tel Aviv and its surroundings serve as the logical home to most of Israel’s choreographers and dance companies.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jerusalem is a distant but growing second center.  But it’s not only Israel’s urban areas that attract dancers.  Scattered across the country’s more rural landscape, three unique dance communities are thriving: the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company and Galilee Dance Village in the north, Adama in the desert south, and the more centrally located Vertigo Dance Company.

I ventured out of Tel Aviv to visit each of these company/communities during my initial survey of Israeli contemporary dance, and I will share the sights from my journeys with photo journals.  This week we’ll start with my trip to Vertigo Dance Company‘s Eco-Art Village on Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Hey.  I first published this photo journal of my trip to the Eco-Art Village on The Winger on May 23, 2008.

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Vertigo’s building.

Vertigo’s gorgeous, spacious studio.

A view from the studio – farm equipment and all!

It’s not often that you gaze out the window of a dance studio and see tractors with bales of hay – but during my visit to the Vertigo Dance Company on Sunday (May 18, 2008), that’s exactly what I saw. Located in Israel’s Elah Valley near the town of Beit Shemesh, Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Hey is home to the new Eco-Art Village, an intentional community of environmentally-friendly artists pioneered by Vertigo’s directors Noa Wertheim and Adi Sha’al.  While Vertigo still maintains a studio and school in Jerusalem, its original home, the company now rehearses in the peaceful environs of the kibbutz.

When I was there on Sunday, I observed a rehearsal of Noa’s latest work, Ra’ash Levan (White Noise). The dance’s movement vocabulary – with influences from ballet, release technique, contact improvisation, and martial arts – kept me focused on the activity within the studio despite the temptation to look out the windows at the unfamiliar and beautiful surroundings. I returned to the Eco-Art Village on Tuesday for a school performance of Birth of the Phoenix. Premiered in 2004, Birth of the Phoenix is a site-specific work in which the company dances on a special dirt floor under a geodesic dome that is re-constructed for each show (the group has performed the work hundreds of times in Israel and abroad). Like White Noise, this work is extremely athletic with plenty of floorwork, soaring jumps, and partnering – and seeing the dancers throw themselves (at times literally!) into such full-bodied movement on a dirt floor was inspiring.

Here are a few photos to give you a sense of the setting for Birth of the Phoenix:

Me outside the geodesic dome for Vertigo’s Birth of the Phoenix

Inside the dome before the performance.

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Want to know more about some of the dances I mentioned in this post?  For more on White Noise, you can visit Vertigo’s site about the production and read Henia Rottenberg’s in-depth article about the dance.  Visit Vertigo Dance Company’s main site to find out more information about The Birth of the Phoenix. Finally, stay tuned to Dance In Israel for more articles on Vertigo and for an audio podcast with Noa Wertheim!

*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.