Video: Batsheva Dancers Create

The Batsheva Dance Company’s dancers might have cooled off at the beach to make this video, but this July, they – and many of Israel’s finest dancers – will be heating up the Suzanne Dellal Center’s stages during SummerDance 2010.  The annual festival, called Maholohet in Hebrew (a play on the words for “dance” and “hot”), will take place from July 1-August 31 and boast 84 performances.

Nuevo Ballet Español.  Photo courtesy of Ora Lapidot PR.

This year’s programming kicks off with a festival within the festival.  From July 1-10, Madrid Dance will showcase Spanish dance including the Antonio Najarro Dance Company, Nuevo Ballet Español, Sharon Friedman and Jesus Pastor, and Pastor and José Marino.  More international guests arrive later in the summer with dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet performing their own creations in Incidence Choreographique and with the Black Light Theatre from Prague in Africania.

Video: Rachel Erdos’s OU’ premieres at SummerDance 2010

As in previous years, premieres abound at SummerDance.  This year’s bounty, totaling 19 new works, will include premieres by Dana Ruttenberg, Kamea Dance Company, Tamar Borer and Tamara Erde, Portal Dance Company, DaNaKa Dance Group, Yoni Soutchy, Idan Sharabi, Ronit Ziv, Sigal Ziv, Elina Pechersky, Rena Schenfeld, Dafi Altebab, Mami Shimizaki, Sharon Vazanna, Anat Grigorio, the Jerusalem Ballet, and Rachel Erdos.  Sahar Azimi, Elad Shechter, and Ido Tadmor offer pre-premieres, and Yaniv Cohen’s work will be shown in its Israeli premiere.

Arkadi Zaides’s Quiet.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

For audiences who missed some of this year’s most intriguing premieres, SummerDance offers a second chance to check them out.  Among the offerings are Arkadi Zaides’s Quiet, which recently returned from a tour of Europe, as well as the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in Rami Be’er’s Infrared, Fresco Dance Group in Yoram Karmi’s Particle Accelerator, Kamea Dance Group in Tamir Ginz’s SRUL, Kolben Dance Company in Min-Hara, and Animato Dance Company in Nadine Bommer’s American Cinema. Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak’s Rushes Plus and Ohad Naharin’s Kyr/Z/na 2010, both highlights of the last season, combine excerpts of older works in a strikingly new context. And Vertigo Dance Company presents not only its recent hit Mana but also White Noise and the now classic Birth of the Phoenix.

Batsheva Dancers Create.  Photo by Yoav Barel.

Several evenings pop out from the schedule with a mixture of interesting fare.  This year’s festival includes Batsheva Dancers Create, an annual workshop featuring two programs of Batsheva’s dancers in an array of their own choreography.  Another intriguing evening is Noa Dar’s presentation of her recent Anu alongside a work-in-progress, Banu, which is the extension of her previous creation.  And audiences will have a chance to sample a combination of choreographers when established artists host up-and-coming contemporary choreographer.  These programs include Dana Ruttenberg and Shlomit Fundaminsky hosting Neta Ruttenberg and Uri Shafir; Sahar Azimi hosting Elad Shechter and Yaniv Cohen; Dafi Altebab hosting Mami Shimizaki; and Idan Cohen hosting Sharon Vazanna.

Beta Dance Troupe in Meeka Yaari and Ruth Eshel’s Fathers and Sons. Photo by Ofer Zvulun.

SummerDance 2010 also features several companies and choreographers that add an ethnic flavor to the Israeli concert dance scene.  Beta Dance Troupe blends Ethiopian traditions with contemporary choreography in Meeka Yaari and Ruth Eshel’s Fathers and Sons as well as Adam McKinney and Daniel Banks’s What We are Saying. Rona Bar-On, Sigal Ziv, and Elina Pechersky bring belly dance to the stage, while COMPAS, Silvia Duran, and Tania Vinokur offer variations on flamenco.  Adding to the mix is Bangoura, an African dance company that will perform The dance of the drums.

Batsheva Ensemble in Ohad Naharin’s Kamuyot.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Want to attend a dance performance with your family?  Several family-friendly programs are dotting this year’s bill, including the Batsheva Ensemble in Ohad Naharin’s Kamuyot, Kamea Dance Group in Or Abuhav’s The Ugly Duckling, COMPAS in Carmen and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and Noa Dar Dance Group in Children’s Games.

Rounding out the programming are several critically acclaimed works created in recent years, including Yasmeen Godder’s Singular Sensation and Yossi Berg and Oded Graf’s Four Men, Alice, Bach and the Deer, and evenings of work by independent choreographers including Iris Erez, Shlomi Frige, Maya Levy, Michael Miler, and Michal Herman.

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• Maholohet: SummerDance 2009 at Suzanne Dellal Center
• More on Maholohet: A Hot Summer of Dance Continues

Related Links

• Suzanne Dellal Center

Idan Cohen’s Swan Lake.  Photo by Marek Weis.

During a preview of the Maholohet festival at Suzanne Dellal in June, the sounds of Tchaikovsky’s famous Swan Lake filled the air.  But what I saw on stage had no overt connection to the images which popped into my mind: a ballerina executing 32 fouettes, four petite dancers doing petit allegro with their arms interlinked, and row after row of “swans” waving their arms like powerful wings.

I was intrigued, and a few weeks ago, I sat down with choreographer Idan Cohen to hear about his contemporary take on one of the most famous ballets in history.  While the three minutes I saw of his work caught my eye, I’m now even more curious about the entire piece.  This is an unmistakably 21st-century Swan Lake, but the connections to the popular 18th-century version run deep.

This article was first published in the Jerusalem Post as “When the Cygnet Grows Up.”

* * *

When the Cygnet Grows Up

“I think the only reason to create something has to be out of love and out of a connection,” states choreographer Idan Cohen.

Like many in the dance world, Cohen feels a strong love for and a deep connection to Swan Lake, the iconic ballet which Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov presented at the famed Mariinsky Theatre in 1895.  Celebrated choreographers from George Balanchine to Mats Ek to Matthew Bourne have put their own spins on the work.  Now with the generous support of several organizations, including Israel’s Culture Ministry, the Pais Foundation and the Suzanne Dellal Center, Cohen is unveiling his own contemporary version in Tel Aviv.

Cohen cites the choreographic history of Swan Lake as one motivating factor in undertaking this production, and he adds, “I feel I have a very deep connection both to the music [by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky] and also to the cultural place that the music and the ballet takes inside our culture, the western culture.  Swan Lake presents such a beautiful, romantic image of strong forces: good opposite evil, beauty opposite alternative beauty, animal versus human . . . all those ideas that are portrayed in Swan Lake in such a defined way – I kind of wanted to open them up and to research how we relate to those forces today.”

Idan Cohen’s Swan Lake.  Photo by Marek Weis.

Cohen’s updated interpretation marks a dramatic, decidedly modern departure from most previous versions of Swan Lake.  Both the royal court and the tutu-clad corps de ballet of swans that dominate ballet renditions are replaced by three female contemporary dancers (Reut Levi, Rita Komisarchik and Daniel Gal) who remain onstage the entire time.  Whereas many productions of the dance stretch over four acts and last three hours – a structure typical of classical ballet – his work runs for an hour and 20 minutes, with one intermission.

Yet despite differences in the technique, setting, characters and length, Cohen’s Swan Lake retains significant links to the legendary Petipa and Ivanov version.  Cohen cut some sections from Tchaikovsky’s stirring orchestral score, but unlike many other contemporary choreographers, he did not manipulate the portions he retained.  “I hope the result is very respectful to the music,” he says, “because this is the most important thing in my eyes.  The music is so brilliant and so strong and so full and so deep that you have to come with a lot of respect and modesty when you work with music such as that.”

Moreover, Cohen explains that regarding his treatment of the music, “I related a lot to the Petipa version in the sense that there’s a lot of similarities in the construction of the group parts and of the solos and how he relates to the music.”

Idan Cohen’s Swan Lake.  Photo by Marek Weis.

While Cohen’s Swan Lake also abandons the fairy-tale narrative of earlier productions, his innovative adaptation goes straight to the core of the original story for inspiration.  “What I tried to create in this piece is what I call an abstractization of the basic ideas that form the Swan Lake synopsis,” he reveals.

From the conventional first act, which features the birthday party of Prince Siegfried, Cohen extracted the concept of birthdays.  During the choreographic process, he and his dancers reflected on their own previous birthdays, exploring the idealization that accompanies these yearly landmarks.

Next, Cohen examined the traditional transformation of the enchanted swans from the second act and reversed this metamorphosis in a sharper look at human nature.  He remarks, “Instead of the animals becoming more and more beautiful or human, the people become more and more animalistic.”

Finally, the choreographer focused on the lake that claims the lives of Swan Lake‘s heroes, and he builds this into a powerful metaphor of what he calls “the lake we’re all struggling to get out of or are living in.”

Cohen discloses that as he and the dancers traced this alternative through-line, they asked themselves very personal questions. Thanks to the performers’ resulting emotional connection to the work and the choreographer’s adventurous, contemporary take on the original ballet’s themes, this Swan Lake proves particularly compelling and relevant for 21st-century viewers.  As Cohen prepares for the dance’s Israeli premiere at the Suzanne Dellal Center, he expresses a wish: “I do hope that the piece will touch the hearts and minds of the audience that is coming to watch it.”

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• “Maholohet: SummerDance2009 at Suzanne Dellal Center”
• “More on Maholohet: A Hot Summer of Dance Continues”

Related Links

• Idan Cohen
• Suzanne Dellal Center

Video: Sally-Anne Friedland’s Dance Drama Company in A Private Collection

One of 11 premieres in this year’s Maholohet festival, Sally-Anne Friedland’s A Private Collection was first performed at Suzanne Dellal on July 19th.  Now the work is heading to Jerusalem on August 20th and returning to Tel Aviv’s Suzanne Dellal Center on August 22nd.

My preview of A Private Collection was first published as “A Public Premiere” in the Jerusalem Post on July 17, 2009.

* * *

A Public Premiere

When choreographer Sally-Anne Friedland was commissioned to make a work for her visit to the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre in New York City, she created a short dance called Borders.  “It was like an unfinished symphony,” Friedland explains, “I knew I would come back to it one day.”

Three years later, Borders has become what Friedland calls the “cornerstone” of her latest creation.  Like its predecessor, A Private Collection investigates “intimate borders, personal borders, how far we can go and what we need for protection.”

But this new work goes deeper, with three sections that take the audience on a multi-layered, visually luscious journey.  Opening with dancers spread across the floor in frozen positions and covered with pastel-colored sheets of tulle, “Yesterday” conveys the sense that something has already happened.  The dancers soon come alive, cleverly manipulating the nets to become bustles or bridal veils.

In “Today,” the middle section, Friedland provides an often humorous take on life through a series of situations.  One duo dons gloves to box each other, three dancers portray sisters and another dancer acts like “a bride running around, looking a bit like Miss Havisham from Dickens.”

Closely based on Borders, the final section, “Tomorrow,” moves away from the parody of “Today” into a more elevated realm.  Friedland reveals that long curtains of tulle “stand like bars on the stage” and provide privacy for each dancer.  These curtains eventually lift, reflecting the choreographer’s own optimism.  Friedland explains, “My hope is that everybody’s borders, whether they’re international borders or private borders, are respected and accepted, and there’s an open space, free for everybody.”

It took a collection of devoted artists working in diverse art forms to bring Friedland’s rich array of ideas to fruition.  “It’s not a one man show,” the choreographer gratefully acknowledges.  For this production, Friedland worked with six gifted dancers from her Dance Drama Company and also enlisted the talents of costumer Sasson Kedem, set designer Paula Miovdovnik and lighting designer Shai Yehudai to create her visual effects.  Sound designer Shashoo developed an eclectic score blending Franz Schubert and Philip Glass’s compositions along with music from the movies Kill Bill and Full Metal Jacket.

While such partnerships are often an integral part of dance-making, Friedland also found some more unusual collaborators in video artist Liat Freund and photographer Pnina Even-Tal.  Freund and Even-Tal attended every rehearsal, documenting the choreographic process.  Friedland notes that at times, seeing the work through others’ lenses gave her a push in a new direction and spurred her onward.

Rather than keep this process secret, A Private Collection offers glimpses into Friedland’s creative workings by interspersing Freund’s short videos in between sections.  Here, nothing is hidden from the audience.  Laughing, Friedland recounts that Freund “saw the good, the bad and the ugly in the rehearsals, and she’s put it all into this video.”  The video, which includes some of Even-Tal’s photographs, also takes a cue from movies and gives each artist proper credit at the end of the performance.

Although the video certainly will enable the audience to connect to A Private Collection, Friedland believes that the essence of her dance will also attract viewers.  As she prepares for her premiere at the Suzanne Dellal Center, Friedland explains, “I hope that my message is positive, and that each person will find their own private collection in this work and be able to identify with the work.  Especially in the part of the necessity of intimacy and privacy.”

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• “Maholohet: SummerDance2009 at Suzanne Dellal Center”
• “More on Maholohet: A Hot Summer of Dance Continues”

Related Links

• Sally-Anne Friedland’s Dance Drama Company

Video: Aviv Eveguy’s Dimona will show at Maholohet on August 4

Yes, I know, I already posted one article about Maholohet (SummerDance).  But some people might need a reminder that there’s still one month left of nearly nightly performances at Suzanne Dellal, and perhaps those of you who are abroad would like to hear a bit more about this Israeli summer tradition.

Although I was lucky enough to see many of the festival’s offerings earlier this season, several of this summer’s works were new (or new to me), and so in July I found myself walking over to Suzanne Dellal a few times a week.  One of the standouts so far was Yoram Karmi and Uri Morag’s Man, Woman, Reflections, with its brilliant use of swinging lamps, illuminating projections, and clever choreography involving innovative sets.  The two-part Under by Matanicola and Yasmeen Godder also delivered a punch with its intense atmosphere and powerful performances.  And just this week, Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak’s Rushes caught my eye with images that were simple, striking, and sustained for just the right amount of time.

Even if you’ve missed these concerts, there’s still plenty to come!  Read on to see what else will heat up the stage this summer – all of the works I’ve mentioned below will be performed during August.

The article below was first published as “Some Summer Spice” in the Jerusalem Post on July 12, 2009.

* * *

Some Summer Spice

Even the numbers of the Suzanne Dellal Center’s SummerDance Festival are impressive: eight weeks of concerts, 76 performances, 11 premieres and one group of special guests from abroad. But what’s behind the statistics – an exceptionally diverse assortment of dance – is even more extraordinary.

SummerDance 2009 (Maholohet, a play on the phrase “hot dance” in Hebrew) has showcased the wealth of Israeli concert dance since its inception 13 years ago.  What started as a three-week festival gradually expanded, and now, with the Suzanne Dellal Center celebrating its 20th anniversary, SummerDance is having its hottest season yet.

In contrast to many shorter and more narrowly focused dance festivals, SummerDance is jam-packed with an unparalleled array of performances displaying the breadth and depth of Israel’s dance scene.  Besides well-established troupes such as the Batsheva Dance Company and Inbal Pinto Dance Company, many independent choreographers will be included on the program.  Older artists with a distinguished history of performing and creating, such as Rina Schenfeld and Alice Dor-Cohen, will be featured alongside relative newcomers, like the team of Artour Astman and Ilana Bellahsen.  Large ensembles, smaller groups, and solos all find their place on the festival’s stage.

But most striking is the range of dance genres which will heat up SummerDance.  All shades of contemporary dance, from more classically influenced styles to cutting-edge experimental work, will be represented.

Video: Elina Pechersky’s Burgandy and Turquoise will be at Maholohet on August 13

Israeli choreographers also put their own flavor on many dance forms from around the world.  Bangoura offers energizing African dance, Anjali blends classical schools of Indian dance, Elina Pechersky puts her own twist on Middle Eastern dance, and several artists will spice up the festival with their take on Spanish flamenco dance.

This year’s SummerDance is particularly notable for its large number of premieres.  In their first choreographing effort together, virtuoso dancers Astman and Bellahsen journey through a vibrant imaginary world in ArtLana.

Meanwhile, Idan Cohen transforms a world that is well-known to many dance-goers: Swan Lake.  Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famed score seems to reverberate through three dancers’ bodies in Cohen’s riveting contemporary choreography.

After intensive periods of creation, several seasoned dance makers are also revealing their latest works.  Sally-Anne Friedland’s A Private Collection captures the eye not only with her dynamic movement vocabulary, but also with video and photographs that provide an inside look into her process.  Dor-Cohen’s Talk to Me speaks of communication and partnership through the powerful performances of Talia Paz and Amnon Damti.  And set to music by Laurie Anderson, Rina Schenfeld’s Angels is filled with visions of both earthly and heavenly beings.

Other highlights of SummerDance include premieres by the Acre Dance Center, Kolben Dance, Elina Pechersky, Ronit Ziv, Niv Sheinfeld and Matanicola vs. Yasmeen Godder.  In addition to this tempting spread of homegrown talent, dancers from the renowned Paris Opera Ballet will light up the stage in a mixed bill.  With a program so richly varied, SummerDance2009 promises something hot for everyone.

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• “Maholohet: SummerDance2009 at Suzanne Dellal Center”

Related Links

• Dance In Israel Events calendar – with listings of the festival’s performances
• Suzanne Dellal Center

Shlomit Fundaminsky in Inner Pocket. Photo by Eyal Landsman.

(This podcast was initially produced for Israel Seen in 2008, and the text is amended from my writing on The Winger.  You can subscribe to this podcast using the iTunes software by clicking this link to the podcast feed.  You can also subscribe for free at the iTunes store.)

* * *

Whether she is performing a solo she choreographed, improvising with the Oktet, or teaching a contemporary dance class, Shlomit Fundaminsky is someone to watch.  She has drawn my eyes in all of these settings.  Onstage she fully embodies the clever characters she creates, and in the studio, she passes on her passion for movement to her many students (full disclosure – I am one of them!).

I have had the pleasure of talking with Shlomit on many occasions since first arriving in Israel, and we finally sat down to record an engaging conversation in June 2008.  Join us as we discuss her career, the connection between improvisation and life, the realities of being a dancer in Israel, and how life in Israel affects the dance that is made here.

Shlomit Fundaminsky in La Divina. Photo by Aviv Zemer.

One of Shlomit’s more recent works is La Divina, created for the program “Opera(tion)” which initially premiered in Jaffa in January 2008.  The full program, including works by choreographers Iris Erez and Maya Weinberg, will be presented as part of Maholohet (SummerDance) at Suzanne Dellal on July 31st.  This time around, fellow Oktet member Inbal Aloni will take the stage in a memorable, diva-esque performance.

Video: Excerpts of some of Shlomit Fundaminsky’s works.

Video: The Oktet in an improvisation. Shlomit Fundaminsky is in a red sweater.

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

Related Links

• Shlomit Fundaminsky’s YouTube channel
• Shlomit Fundaminsky’s bio on the Amuta website
• Suzanne Dellal Center

*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: Yoram Karmi and Uri Morag’s Man, Woman, Reflections will be performed during SummerDance

It seems like every country has its share of summer dance festivals, and Israel is no exception.  The country’s main concert dance festival, SummerDance (Maholohet in Hebrew) is already underway at the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv.  My preview of the festival, “Damn Hot,” was first published in the Jerusalem Post.

* * *

Damn Hot

The Suzanne Dellal Center is turning up the heat with its Maholohet (Hot Dance) summer dance festival.  This year’s program boasts a full summer of sizzling performances, showcasing the best of Israeli dance.  From July 1 until August 29, hundreds of dancers will take the stage in 76 concerts.

Part of Maholohet‘s appeal is the appearance of so many preeminent companies.  The Batsheva, Inbal Pinto and Vertigo Dance Companies are each presenting multiple programs of critically acclaimed works.  Many popular smaller groups and up-and-coming independent choreographers are also heating up the program with their creative fires.

Raising the temperature further this summer are 11 hot-off-the-press premieres by choreographers as diverse as Yasmeen Godder, Alice Dor-Cohen, Ronit Ziv, Idan Cohen and Elina Pechersky.  Another much anticipated highlight is a special guest program with dancers from the famed Paris Opera Ballet.

But with its decided focus on Israeli artists, Maholohet often reveals fresh trends in the country’s dance scene. This year, video is at the top of the list. Among the premieres are Rina Schenfeld’s Angels, Sally-Anne Friedland’s A Private Collection, and Amir Kolben’s Gates of Jerusalem – all of which are illuminated by video art.  Video also lights up Arkadi Zaides’s Solo Siento, Ofra Idel’s Harmony Sucks 4, Tania Vinokur’s Cinco – Flamenco Fusion, Yoram Karmi and Uri Morag’s Man, Woman, Reflections, and Tamar Borer and Tamara Erde’s Isaora Hun.

Another revelation is the wide range of dance styles performed in this small country.  Besides contemporary dance – which itself is varied – Maholohet includes African dance, Middle Eastern dance, Indian dance and quite a bit of Spanish flamenco.  Regardless of style, each program is filled with imaginative artistic vision and talented, energetic performers.  It’s a good thing that the theater has air conditioning, for Maholohet‘s program is as hot as Tel Aviv’s steamy summers.

Video: A preview of Tamar Borer and Tamara Erde’s Isaora Hun, which will be performed in Studio Suzi

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• “Amir Kolben’s Gates of Jerusalem – Dancing the Real Jerusalem”
• “Rina Schenfeld Dance Theatre: About Angels“

Related Links

• Dance In Israel Events calendar – with listings of the festival’s performances
• Suzanne Dellal Center