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

Andrea Miller.  Photo by Franziska Strauss.

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Usually I meet choreographers before I interview them, or at least I have seen a concert or two of theirs.  But having heard plenty of positive buzz and watched some captivating clips on YouTube, I was sufficiently intrigued about Andrea Miller to set up a Skype conversation with the New York-based choreographer this summer.

Unlike most of the artists I’ve interviewed in the last two years, Andrea isn’t Israeli.  However, she’s no stranger to the Israeli contemporary dance scene.  Prior to taking Manhattan by storm with her three-year-old company, Gallim Dance, Andrea lit up the stage as a member of the Batsheva Ensemble.  I couldn’t help but wonder if and how her fresh aesthetic had been affected by her time here in Israel.

Gallim Dance in Andrea Miller’s Blush. Photo by Karli Cadel.

Andrea and I spoke shortly after Gallim Dance made an appearance at Jacob’s Pillow, one of the most prestigious summer dance festivals in the United States.  Besides discussing Blush, which Gallim Dance presented at the Pillow, we talked about Andrea’s path from training in Humphrey-Weidman technique to Juilliard to Batsheva.  Join us as Andrea reflects on her experience in Israel, Gaga, her artistic influences, and Gallim Dance.

If you too are intrigued by Andrea, you can hear more from her when she participates in a special panel, Contemporary Israeli Dance and the Reinvention of the Jewish Body, at the JCC Manhattan on October 22 during Jewish Body Week.  Want to see some of her choreography?  The Northwest Professional Dance Project is premiering a dance by her this week in Portland, Oregon, and in the next few months alone, Andrea’s work will be presented by Utah’s Repertory Dance Theatre, Ballet Hispanico, and the Juilliard School.  2010 will take Andrea to Holland, Canada, and Switzerland before Gallim Dance’s summer engagement at the Joyce Theater in New York City.  And for now, you can get a taste of her work by watching the clips below.

Video: Gallim Dance trailer, with excerpts from several of Andrea Miller’s works

Gallim Dance in Andrea Miller’s Blush. Photo by Franziska Strauss.

Video: Excerpts from Andrea Miller’s Blush

Related Posts on Dance In Israel

• Gallim Dance at Jacob’s Pillow: Waves of Israeli Influence
• Israeli Dance: What’s Happening in October

Other Podcasts on Dance In Israel

• Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak: An Interview on Imagination
• Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor: An Interview with Dramatic Dancemakers
• Interview with Yair Vardi: A View from the Top
• Renana Raz: Choreographing Israeli Culture and Beyond
• Sahar Azimi Speaks about Choreography and Contemporary Dance
• Shlomit Fundaminsky: An Interview on Improvisation and Israeli Life
• Noa Dar Discusses Her Dance Career

Related Links

• Gallim Dance
• Jewish Body Week (with information about the panel Contemporary Israeli Dance and the Reinvention of the Jewish Body)

Video: A trailer for Gallim Dance in Andrea Miller’s Blush, which will be performed at Jacob’s Pillow from July 8-12.

What’s a New York-based dance company doing with a name like Gallim, which means “waves” in Hebrew?

Gallim Dance wasn’t founded by an Israeli, but its director and choreographer – Andrea Miller – was once at the center of Israeli contemporary dance as a member of Ohad Naharin’s Batsheva Ensemble.  Now Miller is generating buzz of her own with Gallim, which has attracted the attention of presenters, critics, and audiences since its inception in 2006.

It was Miller’s I Can See Myself in Your Pupil which first caught the eye of Ella Baff, the director of the famed Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts.  Baff invited Gallim Dance to perform the work at the festival’s Inside/Out outdoors stage last summer, and she called the concert “a big hit.”  “People really, really loved it,” she told me in a phone interview.  “It was absolutely one of the most popular things that we presented on Inside/Out last season.”

Gallim Dance is poised to be another hit at the Pillow this year.  From July 8-12, Gallim Dance will perform Miller’s latest work, Blush, in the Doris Duke Theatre.

So just what is it about the company and Miller’s choreography which is so captivating?  Baff ticks off a list of impressive factors.  First, she explains, Miller has “originality in terms of conceptual meaning and also in terms of physical vocabulary.”  The young choreographer also uses a wide variety of music, which Baff finds appealing.

Then there’s the matter of the dancers, whom Baff calls “fantastic.”  The dancers’ technical facility and physical prowess isn’t the only part of their power onstage.  Baff elaborates, “They have terrific stage presence, they’re a very tight ensemble, and they are clearly committed to her choreography . . . You can often feel that the artists are very clearly communicating the intent of the choreographer.”

I asked Baff if she saw a connection between Miller’s work and that of Ohad Naharin, the director of Batsheva.  “I do recognize the influence of Ohad,” Baff answered.  “I think the place where I see the most resemblance is in the energy.  There are some pieces that Ohad has made that are very forceful pieces, and I think that in at least most of the work that I’ve seen of Andrea’s so far, she likes strong work.  That doesn’t mean to say that the next piece she’s going to make isn’t going to be soft and quiet.  But I do think that she shares a power, an interest in strong communication, that Ohad has in a lot of his work.”

Yet Miller’s choreography has a flavor and freshness of its own.  Baff is quick to note, “Andrea certainly has her own voice, and it’s a voice that’s going to be developing more and more, no doubt, because she’s still a young choreographer.  And that’s what’s also kind of exciting – you feel that there’s a lot of room to grow, that over time she has a lot to say, and that we’ll be hearing more.”

Related Links

• Gallim Dance
• Jacob’s Pillow
• Batsheva Dance Company