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.

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak: An Interview on Imagination (Podcast)
• Inbal Pinto Dance Company: Oyster and Shaker
• Batsheva Dance Company Premieres Ohad Naharin’s Hora
• Interview with Barak Marshall: Dancing between Israel and America (Podcast)

Related Links

• Inbal Pinto & Avshalom Pollak Dance Company
• Batsheva Dance Company
• Barak Marshall
• American Dance Festival
• Monpellier Danse
• Jacob’s Pillow

Ohad Naharin.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Since 1981, the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award has been bestowed annually on luminaries of the dance world.  From Martha Graham (the first recipient) to Laura Dean (the 2008 recipient), selected choreographers have won this prize with their lifelong devotion to building and shaping their art form.  The honorees have pioneered new techniques and ventured into unfamiliar compositional territory.  Out of their experiments emerged choreography that was not only groundbreaking but masterful.

With the exceptions of Pina Bausch and Maguy Marin, the Scripps recipients have been American or based in the United States.  This year, though, a third choreographer from abroad will receive the award: Ohad Naharin.  The award presentation will take place on June 25th at ADF in Durham, North Carolina.

Naharin, the artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, has left an indelible impact not only on the troupe he leads but on the larger Israeli dance scene.  Yet as his selection for the Scripps award suggests, Naharin’s influence is also felt beyond Israel’s borders.

Indeed, Naharin’s work has spread worldwide.  Major companies including the Nederlans Dans Theater and the New York-based Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet have performed his critically acclaimed and captivating choreography.  Juilliard students have learned several of Naharin’s works over the years, while young dancers in Sweden recently presented Kamuyot. And of course, the Batsheva Dance Company itself has toured around the globe with a tempting menu of Naharin’s visual delights.

Naharin’s consistently well-crafted composition and clever challenges to choreographic convention would be enough to launch him into the stratosphere of contemporary dancemakers worthy of the Scripps award.  But this artist also made his mark on dance training.  The inventive movement which characterizes Naharin’s work stems from Gaga, which the choreographer created and instituted as the Batsheva Dance Company’s primary method of training.  Daily Gaga classes in Israel and workshops around the world have introduced dancers – and non-dancers – to Naharin’s movement language.

Naharin’s choreography and innovative technique has caused ripples throughout the dance world, and his effect on a new generation of dancemakers is already visible.  Many of Israel’s independent choreographers danced for Naharin at Batsheva; though they have developed their own voices, their processes and products have at times been flavored by those of their former director.  Meanwhile, in New York, Gallim Dance – founded by Batsheva Ensemble alumna Andrea Miller – is making waves.  If the histories of previous Scripps honorees are any indication, Ohad Naharin’s already far-reaching impact on the field of dance will be long lasting as well.

List of Scripps Award Recipients

(From the ADF Awards & Dedications Page)

1981 Martha Graham
1982 Merce Cunningham
1983 Paul Taylor
1984 Hanya Holm
1985 Alwin Nikolais
1986 Katherine Dunham
1987 Alvin Ailey
1988 Erick Hawkins
1989 In memory of Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman and Jose Limón
1990 Twyla Tharp
1991 Anna Sokolow
1992 Donald McKayle
1993 Talley Beatty
1994 Trisha Brown
1995 In memory of of Pearl Primus and Helen Tamiris
1996 Meredith Monk
1997 Anna Halprin
1998 Fayard and Harold Nicholas
1999 Pina Bausch
2000 Pilobolus Dance Theatre
2001 Garth Fagan
2002 no recipient
2003 Maguy Marin
2004 Eiko and Koma
2005 Bill T. Jones
2006 Murray Louis
2007 Mark Morris
2008 Laura Dean
2009 Ohad Naharin

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

• “MAX – Connecting to Ohad Naharin’s Choreography”
• “Getting to Know the Batsheva Ensemble”
• “Mamootot – Challenging the Performer-Spectator Divide”
• “Ohad Naharin’s Deca Dance in Israel: A Cycle Completed”
• “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

• American Dance Festival
• Batsheva Dance Company
• “Israeli choreographer wins prestigious prize” (Ynet article)

(Photo: Barak Marshall’s Monger has been invited to tour abroad.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.)

Ynet, the website for the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot, announced this week that International Exposure has already yielded invitations for several Israeli choreographers to travel abroad.  I’ve gleaned the following information from Ynet’s Hebrew article.

Barak Marshall’s production, Monger, proved to be a big hit among the visitors to International Exposure.  It will tour to Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, and Romania this spring.  The dance will later be shown at the Joyce Theater in New York and at the 2010 Dance Umbrella Festival in London.

Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak’s Hydra also attracted the attention of several International Exposure attendees.  The Inbal Pinto Dance Company will tour this work to England (Dance Umbrella Festival), the United States (American Dance Festival), and Canada (Montreal’s dance festival).

Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, which already is scheduled to tour part of Europe this spring, has been invited to the Sibiu International Festival this May in Romania.  The company will also present its production of Peter and the Wolf at a children’s festival in Seoul, Korea, and they will create a new project in conjunction with the International Dance Festival Bytom in Poland.

Several independent choreographers also received offers to perform abroad.  See below for videos and details:

Video: Nadine Bommer’s Manimation was a crowd-pleaser at International Exposure. Bommer’s company will join the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company at Romania’s Sibiu International Festival.

Video: Sahar Azimi’s Come Feel.   Sahar Azimi has been invited to a festival in San Vincenti, Croatia; he will also create a new work for the Zagreb Dance Company.

Video: Idan Cohen’s A Year in a Fish Life was presented at International Exposure.  Cohen will choreograph on the Silesian Dance Theatre in Poland.

Video: Adamdam by Arkadi Zaides. Portugal’s Duplacena Festival will showcase two of Arkadi Zaides’s works.

Video: Ov, by Renana Raz and Ofer Amram.  This work will be performed at the Duplacena Festival in Portugal.

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• Dance In Israel’s International Exposure coverage – full series
• “Tel Aviv Dance 2008″ (re: Barak Marshall)
• “Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak: An Interview on Imagination” (Podcast)
• “The Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company: Travel Journal”

*Podcast with Sahar Azimi, Renana Raz, and Barak Marshall coming soon

Links to Choreographers and Companies

• Sahar Azimi
• Nadine Bommer
• Idan Cohen
• Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (Rami Be’er)
• Inbal Pinto Dance Company
• Renana Raz
• Arkadi Zaides

Other Useful Links

• Dance In Israel’s Links page – links to companies, choreographers, and more
  
• Suzanne Dellal Center