Dance In Israel » Gaga intensive

Announcing the Gaga Intensive 2010

Deborah Friedes Galili — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:35:13 +0000

Gaga Intensive. Photo by Gadi Dagon

Many of you have inquired about the 2010 Gaga Intensive, a two-week summer course offered by Ohad Naharin along with dancers from Batsheva Dance Company. So, as the registration coordinator for the workshop, I’m pleased to offer you the scoop: this year’s intensive will be held from July 11-23 in Tel Aviv at the Batsheva studios in the Suzanne Dellal Center. The Gaga Intensive is geared towards dancers and dance students age 18+. Classes in Gaga, Naharin’s repertory, and Gaga methodics will run Sundays through Thursdays from 10:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon, and there will also be classes on Friday mornings. The course will cost 2000 NIS, or roughly $500.

If you have questions, please do not contact me through Dance In Israel but instead e-mail me at: gagaint@gmail.com

You can register at: www.gagapeople.com

Hope to see you in Tel Aviv this summer!

Gaga for Dancers: From the Gaga Intensive to New Open Classes

Deborah Friedes Galili — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:44:35 +0000

Dancers at the Gaga Intensive 2009. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

I’ve been studying Gaga for the better part of two years, but the vast majority of the classes I have taken fall under the rubric of “Gaga People,” Gaga classes which are open for participants regardless of any previous dance experience. There’s something magical about these classes. It’s not often that you walk into a dance studio full of people ranging in age from their early 20s to their 70s, some of whom have performed professionally and some of whom simply love to move but have never taken a dance class before.

Yet there was also something special about taking Gaga classes with 120 other dancers during the Gaga Intensive this summer. “Gaga Dancers” classes challenged me to more thoroughly explore the underlying concepts of Ohad Naharin’s movement language and enabled me to research these ideas while connecting more consciously to my body’s knowledge of ballet and modern dance forms. I wasn’t just working from my lena; I was working my arabesque from my lena. I was floating while doing changements, exploring biba while doing developés, and sensing my luna while doing pliés and relevés.

I’m happy to announce that starting on September 8th, Gaga classes designed specifically for dancers will be opened to the public in Tel Aviv. Like the “Gaga People” classes, these will take place at the Suzanne Dellal Center. If you have previous dance training, you can get your groove on at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. And I’m also happy to announce that starting soon, I’ll be the one working the door! For more details, please see the Events calendar.

* * *

Before open “Gaga Dancers” classes start, I wanted to share another glimpse of last month’s Gaga Intensive. I first wrote the article below, “Learning to Speak Gaga,” for the Jerusalem Post. To read what other dancers thought about their Gaga experience, check out my previous post, “Reflections on the Gaga Intensive 2009.”

* * *

Learning to Speak Gaga

Amidst the waves of tourists arriving in Israel this summer was one particularly diverse group, gathering, from around the globe, in Tel Aviv. They came from the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Cameroon, Japan and Korea. Like some other foreign visitors, they were eager to experience an unfamiliar culture and learn a new language. But these weren’t typical tourists and they weren’t planning to study Hebrew. They are dancers. And they came to immerse themselves in Gaga.

Dancers at the Gaga Intensive 2009. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Gaga is the movement language developed by Ohad Naharin, artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company. Year-round Gaga classes – held at Tel Aviv’s Suzanne Dellal Center and other locations throughout Israel – have attracted a devoted crowd of dancers and non-dancers alike. Meanwhile, dancers in other countries have sampled Gaga in popular master classes taught by Batsheva’s members during international tours. But the two-week Gaga Intensive, which took place from July 19-31, provided a unique opportunity for both Israeli and foreign dancers to study Naharin’s innovative approach and learn excerpts from his captivating choreography.

Armed with brightly colored water bottles and packets of information, the 120 workshop participants were bubbling with anticipation before their first class. Some had previous experience in Gaga and were hungry for more. But for many, this would be their introduction to a class that would likely bare little resemblance to their years of training.

For one thing, mirrors are banished from the Gaga studio and, for another, rather than giving combinations of movement, Gaga teachers dance alongside their students, offering vivid verbal instructions that are interpreted by each person. The emphasis is not on specific steps or positions but on sensation and availability for movement.

With an hour-and-a-half Gaga class each morning and a more experimental, two-hour long Gaga method class each afternoon, the workshop attendees soon picked up a new physical language. Words like “biba,” “lena” and “tama” entered their vocabulary. They discovered how to float their bones inside their flesh and move quickly while maintaining a sense of plenty of time. Above all, they connected to a sense of pleasure and their passion to move – one of Naharin’s most frequent instructions.

Batsheva dancer Iyar Elezra demonstrates at the Gaga Intensive 2009. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

In between classes, the dancers put their newfound knowledge into practice while learning sections from Naharin’s work. The quickening beats and intoxicating melody of an Arabic song wafted through the building as the participants practiced “Arab Line” from Naharin’s Virus; their agile bodies pierced the space in explosive improvisations, their clenched fists pounded the air and their sharp shouts reverberated throughout the studio. During Mamootot, the dancers motivated each motion from evocative images and performed the phrase-work with a clarifying efficiency. Then they broke this quiet calm in a section from MAX, streaking fiercely across the room with daring abandon.

At the end of these long, hot days, the dancers jammed in playful improvisation sessions which epitomized the workshop’s atmosphere of exuberant exploration. Indeed, for many of the participants, these two weeks were a joyful, profound experience.

Recent Julliard graduate Sarah Goldstone remarked happily, “The curiosity for dance and for experiencing new ways of moving is back.” Hannah Nieh, who also hails from New York, reflected, “My body has explored so much uncharted territory and knows that there’s the potential for more.” And Birgitte Lundtoft of Denmark laughed, “I actually feel that you get addicted to Gaga. After a day off, the body wants to do it again!” With this year’s workshop over, it’s just a single trip around the sun till the dancers flock back to Israel for next summer’s Gaga Intensive 2010.

Reflections on the Gaga Intensive 2009

Deborah Friedes Galili — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:21:42 +0000

Ohad Naharin leads class at the Gaga Intensive 2009. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Last year, I only made it to two days of the Gaga Intensive because I was heading back to the U.S. for the summer. But this year, I enjoyed two glorious weeks of dancing with 120 participants from around the world. During our breaks, I talked to many of the dancers about why they came to the workshop, what they enjoyed most, and what they got out of the experience. I’ll be posting more of my writing about the Gaga Intensive later, but first I wanted to bring you some inspiring voices from these dancers.

If you want to share your experience from the Gaga Intensive, you can write a comment at the bottom of this post!

* * *

Allison Shir

- United States, via Amsterdam

I came to the Gaga workshop to expand my vocabulary in a new way. Sometimes if you keep going to the same classes and do the same styles, your artistry can get stale. I think this [intensive] is a lot about how your artistry can feed your physicality and technique rather than the other way around. I think that makes for a much richer and satisfying workshop, and you can take away a lot for your career and your life. It’s not just about dancing with your body but with your life, and about the interconnectedness of everything – there are dynamic possibilities within everything here.

* * *

Victoria Hoyland

– England

I was dancing with Hofesh Shechter as an apprentice and one of the dancers told me about it. Everyone in the Hofesh company just raves about Batsheva and Gaga, so I just had to go!

I just think the information, the way they use the imagery and make your body do things it doesn’t normally do, it’s as if they find the creative strand; they pull it out, somehow. I’ve had it a bit the last year, since Hofesh was here with Batsheva; it’s some of the same ideas of the Gaga technique, but it’s different.

Here there don’t seem to be any boundaries. They’re specific but they leave it open to interpretation, so you don’t need to try to look like something or be like something. That’s what I’ll take home and apply. It makes improvisation less scary; it makes it like a fun challenge, and I used to hate improvisation!

* * *

Hannah Nieh

– United States

One of my best friends did a Gaga workshop last summer, and I saw such a shift in her artistry . . .

I’ve always loved Ohad’s choreography. I’ve seen Nederlans Dans Theatre and Hubbard Street, and this year I saw Batsheva at BAM. I was moved – I saw something very unique, an energy, a special quality that I hadn’t seen for a while. I’m used to seeing really great technicians in New York, but I saw something even more honest in Batsheva.

I had taken a master class with Ohad and knew I wanted to delve into a deeper understanding of what Gaga was, especially after seeing [Batsheva] perform. There’s a feeling of humanity that’s so strong which you don’t see as often as you’d hope in something that is so human.

The workshop challenges you on every level: spiritually, mentally, and of course, physically. I love how [Ohad] talks about being available, which makes me think about the limitless potential we all hold. It feels like Buddhism for your body. My body has explored so much uncharted territory and knows that there’s the potential for more. You can explode, be soft, turn in, turn out – it’s all there. You’re sensing that even if you’re not doing that.

* * *

Evelyn Klöti

– Switzerland

I was here [at the workshop] last year already. It gives you a lot of energy! You have the freedom to move – there are structures, but inside them you have freedom, pleasure, humor . . . But it’s also very intellectual because I think the images are coming from different fields, and that’s also challenging to really sense what the intention of the image is.

* * *

Abbe Ouziel

– United States

I worked with someone from the [Batsheva] company in the States and saw the company perform a few times. They came to New York for a while when they were working with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and I took Gaga classes there. I had always wanted to keep working in this way, so when I heard there was a workshop, I signed up. I wanted to have a good amount of time to work like this instead of doing just a class here and a class there.

What has been the best thing? I guess connecting Gaga technique with the repertory they have been teaching. It’s a good way to test your body and see if you can incorporate all the information that you’ve been getting into the set forms that they’re teaching. And it’s a totally different way of moving. It’s like every movement can be an empty movement, but what we’ve been learning has been filling these movements up. It’s a more challenging and interesting way of dancing.

I think I’m getting a much more efficient and fuller way of working. I’m making sure that I’m putting all that I have into the way that I move and don’t just have empty forms in space. Also, I’m listening to my body more. Just seeing the way that the dancers here work is something to take away because they really put all of themselves into each little movement that they do. And they all do it in a different way, which is really cool!

* * *

Aviv Asulin

– Israel

In the first day, it was amazing! I went out, and it was like, “Wow!” I hadn’t danced in two weeks, but it was really great. All my body opened up and I felt really happy; I talked to my mom and smiled at everyone on the street.

The classes are really professional. The teachers are amazing; they do Gaga very well, and the transference of the information is great. I like the repertoire. Kamuyot and the solos were especially amazing.

* * *

Sarah Goldstone

– United States

My training at Juilliard was very traditional, but we got the chance to work with Ohad on excerpts from MAX and excerpts from Three. To do something that was more modern, contemporary, and current, it was the most fulfilling and exciting experience in my whole Juilliard career. And at Juilliard you rehearse so much that it can die a little in the process – things become stale, and they’re always telling you to do things like the person in the video did. And to not do that was like, Oh . . . it wasn’t a free for all, but you got to experience it for yourself. Even though we rehearsed in the Juilliard fashion, Ohad’s work was always, constantly fresh. I felt like a kid again!

Being here at the intensive, I feel curious again. It’s not like, “Do a tondue and look like this person.” I do a tondue and experience it for myself. It’s what the dance world needs, I think.

The curiosity for dance and for experiencing new ways of moving is back. I had been a little bit jaded by all this traditional technique, and even though I feel like I’m just scratching the surface of all the tasks of Gaga, I want to keep investing. Ohad talks about multi-layer tasks, and you see that in the dancers, in the teachers. I feel like if I keep doing this I can finally grab hold and get to what he’s talking about.

And the repertory feels very human, it doesn’t feel presentational. We keep getting this correction from the teachers, that it doesn’t have to be presentational. To have that, it’s so new; it feels good to just be. I feel this has been a great outlet for that.

* * *

An intense moment at the Gaga Intensive. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Birgitte Lundtoft

– Denmark

I’ve seen the Batsheva Company in all their performances in Copenhagen, and I’m so moved by it – it really has a bite somehow. It captures me. The dynamics and the fleshiness of it, the bodies . . .

I did Gaga for a couple of weeks in Denmark; I tried it there first. I can’t exactly say what it is, but I think there’s just this feeling that there’s something I want here, something I want to do.

Here at the workshop, I’m in the middle of it; I see all the dancers, and it’s very intensive. So you go much deeper into it. I actually feel that you get addicted to it – after the day off yesterday, my body wanted to do it again! It wanted more.

I really love the method classes the most, because at the end of the day, when we’ve had the Gaga class and the repertory, I don’t know if I have any more in me, but a whole new kind of energy comes. I like that very much.

* * *

Hallie Dalsimer

– United States, based in Tel Aviv

Gaga is about embodied sensation. You have to engage the mind to embrace the concept, but then there’s a point when you have to let go of the conscious and be with the sensation. When it happens, it’s really magical, it’s satisfying. There’s another thing: it’s about this honest experience and sensation and not what it looks like.

In the repertory, there’s a unison of intention without the unison of form. The fact that everyone has this same impetus gives it this juiciness.

It’s an expansive way to work, to break out of habits and habitual ways of doing a task. And it can really enrich your experience of other forms; it allows more possibility.

Gaga is empowering for people because it allows you to connect to yourself in a way that is powerful and liberating. It’s really transformed my interests in movement. It’s been a really amazing thing to have access to.

* * *

Anna Roethlisberger

– Switzerland

It’s interesting because I did a lot of performance, dance, and Feldenkrais, and I got a grant to come here. Some people recommended it to me, and I thought, “Okay, let’s have a look at it.” And I was a bit skeptical but open at the same time, and wondering how Ohad would make the translation and transition from warming up and oppositional things to dancing – the bridge between functional research to real movement and improvisation.

I think it’s a very good thing. For dancers who are at the beginning of a career and non-dancers, they have an enormous potential and chance to really integrate something. They can get a really nice base and have an impulse to go further. They can start to have more inspiration afterwards.

Ohad transmitted it very beautifully. When a method is developed by somebody, he is like the body of the method, so I like taking classes from Ohad because he’s really the pool of information. He is the body which can transport the message. And I think sometimes it’s very difficult to learn a method from someone; you really have to understand as a teacher what he meant – really study your own body and not just copy the thing. And I think Ohad has this gift to inspire people because he developed it. He is the pool, the source. I like to be with the source, and have the freedom to create around. I got a good inspiration for movement and it gives me feedback and courage to go to improvisation and choreography. It is a good base from which to go much further.

I really think he reaches people on a different level.

* * *

Shai Faran

– Israel

I have been doing training for Gaga teachers for the last year, so [doing the workshop] was a natural progression. I’m doing lots of Gaga, also with the [Batsheva] company and with the people, so this is an extra for me.

I think the methodics classes are really good, especially for me since I’m trying to learn Gaga from the base. It’s also good that they have the repertory between the two classes so you can actually use what you’re learning when you do the material. It’s amazing because you can learn how they use Gaga; the imagery that [the teachers] use in the class they also use in the repertoire. I think that’s what makes the difference in Batsheva: the small details, the qualities, all this stuff that Ohad puts in the material.

* * *

Cindy Yu

– United States

I had taken a break from dancing and I thought this would be a good workshop; I knew someone who had done it to work out a back injury. So I thought this would be a good way to get back into it, to get my body moving again.

I had previously done Gaga at Peridance in a few classes that were offered there and also at Dance New Amsterdam. I also wanted to travel to a different country, so that helped me decide to come.

I’ve been to workshops before where you learn repertory, and there I just feel like I’m learning a dance. But here I feel like you can apply what you’re learning in the classes to the dance. That’s not always the case in workshops.

I feel like Gaga is a different way to get to that place. And what is that place? Why we dance . . . it’s to feel that connectedness in our bodies, in other people, in the universe. It’s great to find another path to get to that level of awareness. I feel like it’s more effective. Sometimes it’s difficult, but it makes sense to me.

* * *

Christina Robinson

– England

I just wanted to try somewhere new, since I’ve not been out of England to dance yet. I had seen clips of the Israeli companies and they’re very bold, with a lot of great movement, and that sort of appealed to me. That was the sort of thing I’d like to do but don’t over in England. So a friend told me about this, and I said I’d go for it and see what it’s like.

What do I like about the workshop? The whole freedom thing. I’ve always felt a bit of pressure, but here you don’t know anyone so it’s just you, and you can really just be yourself and use their information to find something new in yourself and explore that. I think it’s very free. Everyone’s doing their own thing, and there’s no right or wrong as well.

The imagery helps a lot. I’ve been taking notes and remembering the things that really work for me. You kind of hear [the teachers'] voices with things you know you should work with, like finding every place in the body and maybe moving a bit more intelligently instead of just doing the movement. You’re finding different ways to do it, which can bring something new to the dance.

* * *

Melinda Wilson

– United States

I’ve gained further understanding of the body and the brain, and how they coexist for movement that can be honest and sincere. This is the difference between last year and this year (aside from some scheduling differences). The more time you spend with it, the more it becomes part of you. You stop looking at other people for direction, you stop needing the confidence because you trust your organs, and you trust your body for where the movement comes from.

What made me come back? Obviously the learning process of Gaga itself, and the relationship to the people, whether it’s the dancers or people from Israel who are non-dancers. And of course working with Ohad, who is the creator of the movement language – you rarely get to do that.

It’s broadened my horizons.

* * *

Many thanks to the dancers who participated in this post and to the generosity of the Gaga Intensive’s staff and teachers!

A Glimpse into the Gaga Workshop

deborah friedes — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:15:45 +0000

Gaga Intensive. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Nearly every time I have written about Gaga, I have received inquiries from readers about opportunities to study Ohad Naharin’s movement language. Several people have wondered about attending a Gaga intensive, and now I’m happy to announce that there will indeed be a workshop in Tel Aviv from July 19th-31st, 2009. Contact gaga@013.net for more information.

Although I spent most of the summer of 2008 in the U.S., I visited the Gaga workshop for a day and joined participants in their classes. To get a sense of what might be in store for this year’s Gaga intensive, check out my reflection on last year’s experience, posted below. My article was originally written for The Winger on July 30, 2008.

* * *

In between packing and tying up various loose ends in Tel Aviv a few weeks ago, I swung by the Suzanne Dellal Center to check out Batsheva’s Gaga intensive workshop. Eldad Mannheim, who manages the Batsheva Ensemble, had told me it was full, but I don’t think I was prepared for what I saw when I walked into Studio Varda on a Wednesday afternoon. Dancers had come literally from all over the world – the U.S., Mexico, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and no doubt many other countries – to study Gaga.

The participants had already taken a morning Gaga class by the time I arrived, and now they were busily reviewing material from the daily repertory class in small groups. On the day I attended the workshop, Danielle and Bosmat first led us through a tight gestural section from Ohad Naharin’s MAX. After seeing this excerpt not only in MAX but in several performances of Seder, I was quite eager to try my hand(s) at this movement (so to speak).

The workshop participants had already learned the speedy sequence, and while it was challenging for me to pick up the exact gestures during Danielle’s review, I enjoyed working with some of the more qualitative instructions as she picked apart certain motions. With precise instructions about our dynamics, focus, and intent, the movement became richer; nothing less than full commitment to each moment was acceptable. We also worked on moving together as a group in a tight formation, watching and sensing each other to maintain the unison that has often impressed me when I have seen the company.

After MAX, we switched gears and turned to phrasework from “Humus,” the woman’s section from Naharin’s Shalosh (Three). Now tinier gestures were juxtaposed with gloriously full-bodied dancing, motion was countered with stillness, and quasi-balletic poses were contrasted with quirkier movements. As in Gaga classes, we were often instructed to connect to pleasure: enjoy the feeling of our bodies as we spring into the air, find a feeling of ultimate indulgence as we sit back and cross one leg over the other. And once again, even as we surrendered individually to the fullest sensation possible, the unity of the group was key.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning this repertory, but the highlight of the day for me was the Gaga method class. I had seen this on the schedule and wondered just what was “Gaga method.” It turned out to be an opportunity to more thoroughly explore a few concepts outside of the typical 1-hour Gaga class with additional explanation from the teacher and discussion with other students – almost a meta-Gaga, if you will.

On this occasion, Ohad Naharin himself taught the class, guiding us through an examination of the physical differences between joy and pleasure before leading us through an investigation of how to connect to a sense of plenty of time even while moving at an ever-increasing speed. We also worked as a full group and in pairs, testing our ability to quickly pick up and interpret movement. Finally, we sat down and wrapped up our session, asking questions and sharing our thoughts.

I walked away from the workshop with much more to think about. Besides mulling over some of the recurring ideas and images in Gaga, I realized a major reason why I have been so drawn to it throughout my time in Israel: I’m a researcher, and each Gaga class is an opportunity to research movement. It’s also no wonder that I loved the Gaga method class. At some point, every researcher steps back from data collection and moves on to analysis, and while I have certainly spent a lot of time processing the classes I have taken, I have rarely been able to analyze the concepts from and experience of Gaga with other students – and with Ohad. What a way to cap off 10 months in Tel Aviv!

Dance In Israel » Gaga intensive

Announcing the Gaga Intensive 2010

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Gaga for Dancers: From the Gaga Intensive to New Open Classes

Learning to Speak Gaga

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Reflections on the Gaga Intensive 2009

Allison Shir

Victoria Hoyland

Hannah Nieh

Evelyn Klöti

Abbe Ouziel

Aviv Asulin

Sarah Goldstone

Birgitte Lundtoft

Hallie Dalsimer

Anna Roethlisberger

Shai Faran

Cindy Yu

Christina Robinson

Melinda Wilson

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A Glimpse into the Gaga Workshop

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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.