Barak Marshall’s Rooster.  Photo by Avi Avin.

As autumn turns into winter, there’s an interesting progression from one dance festival in Tel Aviv to the next. Tel Aviv Dance introduces Israeli audiences to top-notch dance from around the globe before giving way to Curtain Up, a celebration of new Israeli-made works. And then, in a few concentrated days of concerts, International Exposure attempts to introduce Israeli dance to the world by showcasing the past year’s bounty (including recently premiered Curtain Up works) to foreign arts presenters who just might invite local choreographers to perform in their home countries.

Now in its fifteenth year, International Exposure will present the work of twenty-seven Israeli choreographers to over ninety guests including theater directors, festival directors, and journalists. These visitors will witness a stellar lineup boasting Israel’s most prominent dance companies as well as many independent choreographers at various stages of their careers. Some of the works on the program have been performed many times over the course of the year; others, such as the selections from the still in progress Curtain Up festival, are in their initial performances. Together, these dances offer a valuable retrospective on the past season and paint a representative picture of Israel’s vibrant contemporary dance scene.

International Exposure 2009 runs from Wednesday, December 9 until Sunday, December 13. Many of the concerts will be held at the Suzanne Dellal Centre and are open to the public, so local audiences can catch up on shows they missed during the last year. Other performances will be held at the Israel Classical Ballet Centre, the Nachmani Theater, Clipa Theater, and the Herzliya Theater, giving visitors a peek at the larger scale of dance venues in Israel.

Below is a day-by-day virtual tour of the festival with photographs and videos of many of the dances which will be performed. Want to learn more about the choreographers, companies, works, and festivals I mention? Click on the underlined names to see related articles published on Dance In Israel.

As we say here in Israel, צפייה מהנה – tzfiya mehana, pleasant viewing!

Wednesday, December 9

Last year’s International Exposure closed with Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak‘s Hydra, and now the couple’s company will kick off this year’s festival with a double bill. The first program features Rushes, which was originally made for the American company Pilobolus. The second program moves to Yerushalmi Hall for a showing of Pinto and Pollak’s Trout and a new work by company member Talia Beck.

Video: Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak’s Trout

Thursday, December 10

Video: Tel Aviv Dance Company in Yaara Dolev’s BLOSSOM.

Day 2 of International Exposure 2009 starts early with the Tel Aviv Dance Company in co-artistic director Yaara Dolev’s BLOSSOM, which recently premiered in Curtain Up.  Participants will then visit the Israel Classical Ballet Centre in Tel Aviv to view excerpts from the Israel Ballet’s repertory.

Video: Artour Astman and Ilana Bellahson in Artlana

A mixed bill at Suzanne Dellal will include excerpts of two works that premiered this summer in Maholohet, the center’s SummerDance festival.  Artour Astman and Ilana Bellahsen perform part of their evening-length duet Artlana, while Rina Schenfeld and her company take to the stage in Angels.

Video: Maria Kong in fling

Across town at the charming Nachmani Theater, the collaborative company Maria Kong offers fling, the group’s debut work. The day’s programming also features a visit to Clipa Theater for Michal Herman’s Fellowship, based on a short story by Kafka, as well as presentations by the Acco-based group Hamama and choreographer Shlomi Frige.

Video: Vertigo Dance Company in Noa Wertheim’s Mana

Thursday closes with another recent premiere from Curtain Up.  Vertigo Dance Company will perform Noa Wertheim’s Mana.

Friday, December 11

Friday’s schedule boasts works from some of Israel’s most prominent choreographers. The day begins with a trip to the Herzliya Theatre for Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company‘s performance of Rami Be’er’s Infrared, which premiered in November.

Video: Barak Marshall’s Rooster

Back at the Suzanne Dellal Centre, we’ll take a look at Barak Marshall‘s Rooster, a co-production of Suzanne Dellal and the Opera House which premiered in this year’s Tel Aviv Dance festival. The afternoon will also include a celebration for the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s twentieth anniversary.

Iris Erez’s Numbia.  Photo by Itay Merom.

In the early evening, we’ll visit Yasmeen Godder’s studio in Jaffa for a showing of Iris Erez’s Numbia and Noa Shadur’s Into the Night, both of which were unveiled recently as part of the Curtain Up festival.

Yasmeen Godder’s LOVE FIRE. Photo by Tamar Lamm.

Friday concludes at Suzanne Dellal with Yasmeen Godder‘s LOVE FIRE, which premiered in November at Curtain Up.

Saturday, December 12

Video: Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor’s Big Mouth

Saturday starts with new works from the Curtain Up festival. Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor take the stage first with Big Mouth, a collaboration with Amsterdam-based dancer Keren Levi.

Nimrod Freed’s Subtext.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Next up is the Tami Dance Company in Nimrod Freed’s Subtext, along with Dafi Altabeb’s Under the Carpet and Anat Grigorio’s Daydream.

Yossi Berg and Oded Graf’s 4 Men, Alice, Bach and the Deer. Photo by Matyas Krotziger.

In the afternoon, Yossi Berg and Oded Graf’s 4 Men, Alice, Bach and the Deer will be performed at the Inbal Theatre in Suzanne Dellal.

Noa Dar’s Us.  Photo by Tamar Lamm.

In another program from Curtain Up, Noa Dar‘s Anu (Us) shares the stage with Irad Mazliach’s Unter den Linden and Maya Brinner’s Red Ladies.

Video: Dana Ruttenberg’s NABA

Saturday includes another triple bill at the Inbal Theatre.  Improvisation-based artist Ilanit Tadmor presents Happiness is Real, Dana Ruttenberg equips the audience with audio guides in NABA, and Tammy and Ronen Izhaki perform their duet This Now Is, which was shown in the Shades of Dance festival in March.  After this program, we’ll move to Studio Varda for a presentation of Arkadi Zaides‘s work-in-progress, Quiet, which has a cast of both Israeli Jews and Arabs.

Video: Idan Cohen’s Swan Lake

The night ends with one more triple bill of excerpts from works which were featured in the SummerDance festival.  Sally-Anne Friedland offers A Private Collection, Idan Cohen presents part of his full-length contemporary Swan Lake, and Ronit Ziv performs in her Tide.

Video: Ronit Ziv’s Tide

Sunday, December 13

After a tour of Jerusalem on Sunday, International Exposure guests will be treated to a few last performances at Suzanne Dellal.

Video: Tamar Borer and Tamara Erde’s Izaora Hun

Butoh-influenced performance artist Tamar Borer and filmmaker Tamara Erde present part of Izaora Hun in the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s Inbal Theatre.

Video: Batsheva Dance Company in Ohad Naharin’s Hora

Back in the complex’s main hall, the festival closes with Batsheva Dance Company in Ohad Naharin’s latest work, Hora.

Yaara Dolev’s Blossom.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Dance In Israel: Can you tell me about the relationship you and Amit Goldenberg have had with Curtain Up?
Yaara Dolev: The first work we did with Haramat Masach [Curtain Up] was a collaboration between us and plastic artists in 2001.  It was in the space between the theater and the Batsheva offices.  The whole place was covered with these mobile statues and we danced with [them], and it was a very nice project.  In 2002, we did another piece for Haramat Masach.  It was a very political piece; the name of it was Ivrim, about fascism . . . And in 2003, we did a piece called Machine.  It was a whole evening.   And that’s it.  That was when we decided that we want to create outside of this festival, to be more independent when we create.

Yaara Dolev’s Blossom.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

YD: This 20 year [anniversary of] Haramat Masach is a great opportunity to come back to this and to do it in an independent way.  It’s really unique and wonderful that they gave this option for the six creators to really do [the festival] without interference, without questioning, just to give this freedom to create.

Michael Miler’s Number 6.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

DII: What drew you to select Michael Miler to join you on the bill?
YD: Of course when we knew that had to select someone, we tried to see as much as possible . . . I think it’s a good collaboration because there’s something about his creation that is more [about] the pure, clean movement in space, and less [about] theater.  And [there’s] something about it that we believe in . . .

Michael Miler’s Number 6.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

YD: I think Michael is very talented.  I think he’s very interesting.  He’s coming from math; in university, he studied engineering and mathematics.  You can see it in his compositions, and it’s very interesting for me.  I think it’s very clear what he wants, and you can see he’s very mature about his creation.

Yaara Dolev’s Blossom.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

DII: Can you tell me a little bit about the work that you’re premiering, Blossom?  Where did it come from?
YD: Actually, it started by chance.  I took a DVD from the Third Ear [a DVD store in Tel Aviv], and it was a Sean Penn movie, Into the Wild.  It’s a wonderful film, and when I finished the film, immediately I knew what I want to do in this work.  And what we’re doing now is pretty much the same vision that I had when I finished [seeing] this movie . . . it was the first pulse for me for the creation.  Also, I thought because it’s the first creation I [am doing] without Amit, it’s really my blossom.

Yaara Dolev’s Blossom.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

YD: I was really with myself in this creation.  I feel like I could really put my dream on the dancers onstage.  There’s my truth there, so it feels good.

* * *

For listings of Curtain Up performances, please visit the Dance In Israel Calendars page.

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• Israeli Dance: What’s Happening in November
• What is Israeli Dance? Two Festivals Hold Some Clues
• Curtain Up 2009: Celebrating 20 Years of Israeli Premieres
• Behind the Scenes at Gvanim: Shades of Dance Festival
• Curtain Up 1: Nimrod Freed Hosts Anat Grigorio and Dafi Altebab
• Curtain Up 2: Vertigo Dance Company and Noa Wertheim Host Elad Shechter
• Curtain Up 3: Yasmeen Godder Hosts Iris Erez
• Curtain Up 5: Noa Dar Hosts Maya Brinner and Irad Mazliah
• Curtain Up 6: Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor Host Noa Shadur

Related Links

• Suzanne Dellal Centre
• Jerusalem Theatre
• Michael Miler

The Curtain Up 2009 poster.  Courtesy of Ora Lapidot PR.

The annual Curtain Up festival has figured prominently in my understanding and appreciation of Israeli contemporary dance.  Every autumn, this festival presents a fresh harvest of premieres by some of the field’s most promising choreographers.  I have now attended Curtain Up twice, and both seasons introduced me to some new faces and showcased the latest creations by choreographers whom I was already following.

As the buzz about this year’s 20th anniversary celebration grew, I wanted to find out more about the history of Curtain Up.  I talked with each of the six headlining presenters in this year’s festival, veteran choreographers who received support from the festival earlier in their careers.  They related their own personal pasts with Curtain Up, but wanting even more of an overview, I decided to go straight to the founder of the festival: Nilly Cohen, who directs the dance division of the Ministry of Culture.

Nilly’s retelling of Curtain Up’s history traces the rise of the Israeli contemporary dance scene.  “20 years ago, there were not so many choreographers in Israel,” she remembers.  “There were only three dance companies, and all the young choreographers, all the fringe simply didn’t exist.  And this was the main target for my initiative.  I [wanted] to build the next generation of choreographers in Israel.  That was the aim 20 years ago.  And now we can see that this aim succeeded.  Now we have many choreographers and many dance companies.”

Nilly continued, “I [initiated] Curtain Up 20 years ago because of the bad conditions for the choreographers.  They didn’t have the money to make their creations, to do the performances, to do the public relations, the marketing, and so on.  It takes [a lot of] money to do this, and they were very young; they were beginners in this profession.  And it was very difficult.  So I initiated this stage to give the young choreographers all the conditions to make their art.”

Then as now, Nilly explained, the government stepped in to help independent choreographers.  “We give them the money for the creation: for the costumes, for the dancers, for the lighting, for the design,” she elaborated.  “Besides this, we give them free the [concert] halls, Suzanne Dellal in Tel Aviv and the Jerusalem Theatre in Jerusalem . . . We do the public relations for them.  And we also give them the income.”

This generous public support spurred the flowering of Israeli dance, fostering its growth from a small pool of struggling choreographers to a vibrant scene featuring both an array of full-fledged companies and a seemingly multiplying set of individual artists.  Nilly recounted with pride, “I began [Curtain Up] 20 years ago, and then many creators were born on this stage and developed.  They developed to be dance companies like Vertigo Dance Company, like Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak’s company, like Noa Dar’s dance company, like Yasmeen Godder and many others.”

As this significant anniversary of Curtain Up approached, Nilly said, “I thought that the best thing to celebrate 20 [years] is to show what is the fruit of this stage.  And the fruits are all of these dance companies, so I invited them to perform on this stage this year.”  She added that she also was pleased to offer these now mature choreographers the chance to curate the festival by selecting emerging choreographers to join them on their respective programs.

Below is my preview of Curtain Up 2009, which was originally published in the Jerusalem Post as “Celebrating Creative Choreography.” My next few articles on Dance In Israel will zoom in on each individual program, with excerpts from my interviews with the choreographers and photographs of the new works.

* * *

Celebrating Creative Choreography

Participating in the annual Curtain Up festival, the country’s major platform for new works, is a rite of passage for Israeli choreographers.  Reflecting on her history with the festival, choreographer Noa Dar explains, “It really was my school and my initiation program for my choreography.”  Now Dar and other veteran choreographers are returning to Curtain Up for a special 20th anniversary season and they are initiating a new generation of dancemakers into the circle of Curtain Up participants.

As in past years, Curtain Up 2009 boasts several programs of hot-off-the press choreography.  Yet this year, there is a twist.  Each of the six concerts is headlined by an established choreographer who in turn selected one or two emerging choreographers to join the bill.  The result is a sumptuous spread of Israeli contemporary dance featuring both the field’s most acclaimed artists and some of its freshest rising stars.

Nimrod Freed’s Subtext.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Nimrod Freed of the Tami Dance Company chose both Anat Grigorio and Dafi Altebab to join him in Curtain 1 because they are “authentic, passionate and creative in an unusual way.”  Freed’s Subtext, Grigorio’s Daydream, and Altbeb’s Under the Rug all imaginatively uncover and probe the hidden sides of life.

Noa Wertheim’s Mana.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Curtain 2 is enlivened by the electrifying energy of Vertigo Dance Company and its younger division, the Vertigo Ensemble.  Performed against a strikingly geometric black-and-white set, Noa Wertheim’s new Mana explores the essential differences between men and women. Danced with verve by the Ensemble, Elad Shechter’s Roni casts a broader gaze at the dynamics of control in contemporary life.

Yasmeen Godder’s Love Fire. Photo by Tamar Lamm.

Yasmeen Godder was a frequent presenter in Curtain Up during the early 2000s, but her premiere in Curtain 3 marks a dramatic departure from her previous works.  LOVE FIRE, a duet danced to classical waltzes, reconsiders romanticism and includes a “performative installation-based response” by visual artist Yochai Matos.  Iris Erez, who regularly collaborated with Godder as a dancer, unleashes her own choreographic power in the trio Numbia.

Ya’ara Dolev’s BLOSSOM.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

The clean lines, precise angles and graceful curves of the body take center stage as the Tel Aviv Dance Company performs two works in Curtain 4.  Waves of movement wash over the dancers in BLOSSOM, a premiere by the company’s co-artistic director Ya’ara Dolev.  Guest choreographer Michael Miler also displays what Dolev describes as a predilection for “pure, clean movement in space” in his Number 6.

Noa Dar’s Us.  Photo by Tamar Lamm.

When Noa Dar selected Maya Brinner and Irad Mazliah for Curtain 5, the three choreographers talked about uniting their program with a common theme. Dar says that Brinner’s Red Ladies, Mazliah’s Unter den linden, and her own Us deploy unique perspectives on “difference versus conformity and stillness or stuck positions versus mobility and change.”

For Curtain 6, the team of Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor joined forces with dancer/choreographer Keren Levy to produce Big Mouth.  Using their personal relationships to Israeli society as a jumping off point, the trio investigates the conflicting desires of belonging to a group while maintaining one’s self-expression.  The program is rounded out by Noa Shadur’s Into the Night, which compares the reality of death with its melodramatic theatrical representation.

Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak’s Trout. Photo by Asaf Ashkenazi.

Traditionally, Curtain Up hosts an additional program by a well-known group, and this year’s guest concert is guaranteed to make a big splash.  Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak’s Trout, which premiered in 2008 in Norway, floods a black-box stage with water to create an otherworldly setting where dancers mix with musicians from the experimental Kitchen Orchestra.  It’s a magical way to cap off Curtain Up’s celebration of creativity.

More Information

Curtain Up runs from November 24 to December 7 at the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv and from December 8-14 at the Rebecca Crown Auditorium in Jerusalem. Tickets (100 NIS for most shows) are available at 03-5105656 (Suzanne Dellal Center) and 02-5605755 (Rebecca Crown Auditorium).

For listings of Curtain Up performances, please visit the Dance In Israel Calendars page.

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• Israeli Dance: What’s Happening in November
• What is Israeli Dance? Two Festivals Hold Some Clues
• Curtain Up 1: Nimrod Freed Hosts Anat Grigorio and Dafi Altebab
• Curtain Up 2: Vertigo Dance Company and Noa Wertheim Host Elad Shechter
• Curtain Up 3: Yasmeen Godder Hosts Iris Erez
• Curtain Up 4: Tel Aviv Dance Company and Yaara Dolev Host Michael Miler
• Curtain Up 5: Noa Dar Hosts Maya Brinner and Irad Mazliah
• Curtain Up 6: Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor Host Noa Shadur
• Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak’s Trout

Related Links

• Suzanne Dellal Centre
• Jerusalem Theatre
• Nimrod Freed
• Vertigo Dance Company
• Yasmeen Godder
• Michael Miler
• Noa Dar
• Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor
• Inbal Pinto Dance Company

November is a month of festivals and foreign tours.  For more details about these events and other performances, visit Dance In Israel’s Calendars.

At Home

Lee In Soo’s Modern Feeling is part of Tel Aviv Dance.  Photo courtesy of Ora Lapidot.

Tel Aviv Dance 2009 is in full swing at the Suzanne Dellal Center and the Opera House.  Still to come are companies and choreographers from France, Spain, Korea, and Israel.  Check out the lineup in Tel Aviv Dance 2009 Mixes Global and Local Dance and get to the theater from now until November 13 to catch some of the best international dance around.

Sharon Vazanna’s Walking Inside Water.  Photo by Amina Husberg.

Noa Dar’s Us premieres at Curtain Up 2009.  Photo by Tamar Lamm.

Soon after Tel Aviv Dance finishes, another major festival will take its place on Suzanne Dellal’s stage.  Haramat Masach, or Curtain Up, is an annual platform for premieres by Israeli choreographers.  To celebrate the Suzanne Dellal Center’s 20th anniversary, this year the festival invited established choreographers to create new works and host fresh creations by emerging artists.  Curtain 1 opens with Nimrod Freed plus Anat Grigorio and Dafi Altbeb; Curtain 2 pairs Vertigo Dance Company’s Noa Wertheim with Elad Shechter; Curtain 3 boasts Yasmeen Godder and Iris Erez; Curtain 4 includes Tel Aviv Dance Company’s Yaara Dolev and Michael Miler; Curtain 5 features Noa Dar with Maya Brinner and Irad Mazliah; and Curtain 6 closes with the team of Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor as well as Noa Shadur.  The festival ends with a special performance of the Inbal Pinto Dance Company in Trout. Check back soon for more posts on Curtain Up 2009, and see below for articles about individual choreographers who will be participating in this year’s festival.

Video: Rina Badash’s Revealed Under the Covers

Although Curtain Up dominates the dance programming in late November, there are still a few dance performances to be found outside this platform.  On November 26, Tmuna Theater will host Rina Badash’s Revealed Under the Covers, a multidisciplinary work featuring a solo dancer, live music, and video art projected on four screens.

Abroad

Ohad Naharin’s MAX. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

After presenting Ohad Naharin’s Hora and Mamootot at home during the Tel Aviv Dance festival, the Batsheva Dance Company is packing its bags for a European tour.  Audiences in the Netherlands, France, and Germany can catch performances of Naharin’s Mamootot, Deca Dance, MAX, and Sharon Eyal’s Love. Want to read more about these works?  Take a look at Mamootot: Challenging the Performer-Spectator Divide, Ohad Naharin’s Deca Dance in Israel: A Cycle Completed, and MAX: Connecting to Ohad Naharin’s Choreography.

Ohad Naharin teaching Gaga in Tel Aviv.  Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Meanwhile in New York, Ohad Naharin will receive one of the 2009 Dance Magazine Awards on November 9.  During his trip stateside, he will teach master classes in Gaga at Peridance in New York City from November 9-10.  Hear some of the choreographer’s thoughts on Gaga in Ohad Naharin on Gaga (Video).

Noa Wertheim’s Mana. Photo by Gadi Dagon.

Further south in Washington D.C., Vertigo Dance Company will perform Noa Wertheim’s new Mana at the General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America (the GA).  This year the GA will meet from November 8-10, and Vertigo will perform at the opening plenary which also features a speech by President Barack Obama.  Israeli audiences can see Mana when Vertigo performs at Curtain Up in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Yasmeen Godder’s Singular Sensation.  Photo by Tamar Lamm.

Yasmeen Godder’s dancers are also headed to Europe for more performances of Singular Sensation in Belgium and Germany.  Learn more about the choreographer in Close Encounters Series: Yasmeen Godder.

For Young Dancers in Israel

Over the next several months, a select group of young aspiring dancers will develop their artistry in weekly Gaga classes and repertory workshops taught by members of the Batsheva company and staff.  Want to be part of this project?   If you’re between the ages of 14 and 22, you can audition on November 10 at Studio Varda in the Suzanne Dellal Center.  For more information, contact Michal at todance@013net.net.

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• Tel Aviv Dance 2009 Mixes Global and Local Dance
• Vertigo Dance Company: Art, Environment, Community
• Close Encounters Series: Yasmeen Godder
• Behind the Scenes at Gvanim: Shades of Dance Festival (about Michael Miler)
• Noa Dar Discusses Her Dance Career (Podcast)
• Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor: An Interview with Dramatic Dancemakers (Podcast)
• Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak: An Interview on Imagination (Podcast)
• Mamootot: Challenging the Performer-Spectator Divide
• Ohad Naharin’s Deca Dance in Israel: A Cycle Completed
• MAX: Connecting to Ohad Naharin’s Choreography
• Gaga in Ohad Naharin on Gaga (Video)

Related Links

• Nimrod Freed
• Vertigo Dance Company
• Yasmeen Godder
• Michael Miler
• Noa Dar
• Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor
• Inbal Pinto Dance Company
• Batsheva Dance Company
• Peridance
• United Jewish Communities General Assembly (the GA)

Choreographer Aviv Eveguy performing a solo at Home Port’s opening night.  Photo by Aharela Golran.

The night before my flight to Boston, I trekked down to Jaffa one more time for a performance of Shlomit Fundaminsky and Itay Yatuv’s Metaktek (Ticking) at the Home Port Festival.  As I descended to the port, a car pulled up and a couple asked for directions to hangar #2.  I answered them and smiled – hangar #2 is, well, home to Home Port.

Located next to a swarm of bobbing fishing boats, this enormous hangar is not your typical destination for a dance performance.  Yet the members of the Choreographers Society have lured a mix of devoted dance fans and less seasoned audience members to the Jaffa Port over the last several weeks.  Though some performances were more sparsely attended, the opening marathon of solos on March 12 actually sold out!  Those who were turned away at the door – and those who simply couldn’t make it that night – have a second chance to witness this extraordinary program when the festival closes on April 6.

With concerts nearly every evening and so many choreographers participating, Home Port was a fantastic opportunity for me to expand my familiarity with the Israeli dance scene.  The festival introduced me to Neta Shizef’s flamenco work and to Anat Katz’s contemporary choreography.  I finally got to see dances I had missed over the last season, like Aviv Eveguy’s Dimona, Yossi Berg & Oded Graf’s Heroes, Nadine Bommer’s Manimation, and the Tel Aviv Dance Company’s Tokyo Oranges.  And I happily re-viewed several works, including Hillel Kogan’s Everything, Yoram Karmi’s La Famiglia, and Noa Shadur’s Hunting Rabbits in the North.

While I saw a lot of performances at the Home Port festival, I have not written about them here on Dance In Israel.  This is partially due to a time crunch (spending my nights in Jaffa made preparing for my month-long trip to the U.S. and finishing Hebrew homework a challenge!).

Yet this is more a matter of my outlook and my aims.  I attended Home Port – as I attend all performances – not as a critic but as a dance scholar.  The concert hall (or, in this case, the hangar) is one of my laboratories; it is a site where I conduct my research.  By viewing much of the programming at Home Port, I broadened and deepened my knowledge of Israel’s concert dance scene.  My observations there will no doubt enable me to have more informed conversations with choreographers and enrich my writing about their work.

As the Home Port festival ends, I’m pleased to give you a bit more information about how it started.  I did a telephone interview with Sigalit Gelfand, the highly dedicated head of the Choreographers Society, shortly before opening night.  The write-up below was initially published in the Jerusalem Post on March 25, 2009 as “Steps in the Right Direction.”

* * *

Asked about her excitement level before the opening of the Home Port festival, Sigalit Gelfand, the head of the Choreographers Society, laughs giddily.  “I’m feeling like my child is becoming a bar mitzva,” she giggles.

Gelfand has reason to be excited.  From March 12 until April 4, the 54 choreographers who comprise the Choreographers Society will have presented 33 performances at Jaffa’s port. Like a bar mitzva, this event is a major milestone in the life of the organization: It is the first time the Choreographers Society is presenting an independent festival in a space that, at least for now, it can call its own.

As the entire field of Israeli concert dance has blossomed during the past two decades, independent choreographers have swelled the ranks of the Choreographers Society and the need for more performance venues has grown.  During the past year, Gelfand began to think outside of the traditional theaters which have presented dance.  “I started to try to locate a place where we could establish our home port, our place where we could create and perform without any limits,” Gelfand explained.

On one of her expeditions, Gelfand visited a hangar in the Jaffa port that had previously hosted special events.  Although the place was not currently available as a long-term home base, she pondered a shorter stay at the site.  The management of the port was open to cooperation, and Gelfand brought a few dancers to the hangar to start brainstorming.  Choreographers Yasmeen Godder, Arkadi Zaides, Itai Wizer and Nimrod Freed formed a special artistic committee to work with Gelfand on the project.  Now the Home Port festival is coming to fruition.

The four-week stretch of the festival allows the Choreographers Society to settle into its temporary digs and marks a promising start toward acquiring a long-term artistic home. Gelfand remarks with satisfaction, “We are not guests in another house, in another theater. It’s ours.  The possibility to have our place in the future is the most exciting thing we can think about right now.  And the uniqueness of this event, to perform in this very special place, it’s also very exciting.”

THE STRUCTURE of the festival is indeed unique.  After its opening two weeks ago that featured a special marathon of 36 solos, the Home Port festival is offering programming almost every evening except on Sunday.  Some concerts feature a full-length work or a few dances by one artist, while others combine shorter works by different choreographers.  On many evenings there are two events back to back, enabling viewers to sample more delights from Israel’s dance scene. During the daytime on Saturdays, the festival offers family-friendly performances.

Meanwhile, an announcement in the middle of the festival heralded a new development in the Choreographers Society’s quest for space. After years of searching for a suitable site, association members Robbie Edelman and Ofra Idel secured a hall in Jerusalem which will be used by independent choreographers. With this new home for rehearsals, workshops and showings of works-in-progress, the artists of the Choreographers Society are one step closer to their ultimate dream.

Reflecting the makeup of the Choreographers Society, the Home Port schedule showcases the spectrum of concert dance in Israel. Some choreographers draw from the Spanish tradition of flamenco, while others transport belly dance to the stage. Many participating artists come from a contemporary dance background, but they, too, display a rich diversity of approaches and styles. Collaboration, improvisation, abstract dances, and colorful characters all find a place onstage in the hangar.

Besides an enticing menu of dance shows, the Home Port festival boasts another lure to bring visitors to the Jaffa port: live music. In cooperation with the music venue Levontin 7, most programs include a musical performance. A bar and cafe inside the building further contribute to the festive atmosphere.

While the hangar may not be a permanent home for independent choreographers, this month it will be one of the best places for dance and music lovers to hang out.

* * *

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• Home Port Festival: 54 Choreographers in 33 Concerts at the Jaffa Port – preview and schedule
• Home Port Festival: History in the Making for the Choreographers Association - my reaction to the festival’s opening night

Related Links

• Amuta (Choreographers Association/Choreographers Society) website
  
• Home Port schedule (in Hebrew)
• Dance In Israel’s Links page – with links to the websites of many members of the Amuta

The choreographers of the Amuta in Jaffa for the Home Port Festival.  Photo by Dorit Talpaz.

The first hint that something big was happening in Israel’s concert dance scene was an e-mail from Yossi Berg and Oded Graf about their upcoming performance schedule.  One listing mysteriously said that the duo was presenting Heroes at the Jaffa port for a choreographers festival.  Choreographers festival?  In Jaffa?  Many dance festivals here are annual ones, and I didn’t remember anything like that from last year.

Next I started to see some Facebook events popping up, with choreographers including Hillel Kogan, Noa Dar, Shlomit Fundaminsky, and Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor inviting friends to attend performances at the port during March.   My curiosity grew as the number of choreographers involved increased.

Finally, Yasmeen Godder pulled me over before class one day and told me I should look into a very exciting, unprecedented event: the Home Port festival.  As I talked more with her and followed a few leads, I found out that this was, indeed, something big.

The Home Port festival was initiated by the Amuta (which translates as the Choreographers Association or the Choreographers Society), an umbrella organization for fifty-four independent choreographers who draw from styles as varied as contemporary dance, flamenco, and belly dance.  Working outside of the country’s larger companies, these established choreographers are responsible for much of Israel’s flourishing concert dance scene – and all of them will present their creations in thirty-three different concerts over the next four weeks in a hangar at Jaffa’s port.

The Home Port festival kicks off on Thursday, March 12 with what promises to be one of the most unique performances since I’ve arrived in Israel.  The organization’s choreographers have assembled a special marathon of forty-four solos to celebrate the opening of their festival, and the evening will also include a reception and two lively musical performances.

In fact, nearly every concert in this series will also feature a musical act.  The association invited Levontin 7, a well-known music venue, to participate in the festival, and many of the bands or artists that perform at the club will also appear down in Jaffa.

I’ll be attending many of the performances at the Home Port festival, and I look forward to writing more about the events here on Dance In Israel.  If you’re in Israel during the next month, I hope you will have a chance to check out the festival yourself!

Schedule of Home Port Festival in Jaffa

Most of the information online about the Home Port Festival is in Hebrew, so I have roughly translated the choreographers’ names and some titles of works along with the performance times below.  Please note that I have only included the choreographers and not the rotating roster of (wonderful, diverse, talented) musicians who will perform at the concerts.

• Thursday 3/12 @ 7:00 pm – Opening Night Celebration – Marathon of 44 Solos
• Friday 3/13 @ 9:30 pm – Oded Graf  & Yossi Berg’s Heroes; Noa Shadur’s Hunting Rabbits in the North
• Saturday 3/14 @ 9:00 pm – Aviv Eveguy’s Animus and Dimona
• Tuesday 3/17 @ 9:00 pm – Yasmeen Godder’s Singular Sensation
• Thursday 3/19 @ 8:00 pm – works by Ilanit Tadmor, Abigail Rubin, and Noa Rosenthal
• Thursday 3/19 @ 9:15 pm – works by Mimi Ratz Wiesenberg, Silvia Duran, and Tomer Sharabi
• Friday 3/20 @ 9:30 pm – Noa Dar’s The Sweetest Embrace and Arnica
• Saturday 3/21 @ 11:00 am – family-friendly performance by choreographer Dina Telem
• Saturday 3/21 @ 8:00 pm – Tel Aviv Dance Company in Tokyo Oranges
  
• Saturday 3/21 @ 9:15 pm – works by Yoram Karmi/Fresco Dance Company, Neta Shizef, and Tami & Ronen Yitzhaki
• (Cancelled due to rain) Monday 3/23 @ 8:00 pm – Idan Cohen’s Joy Ride, My Sweet Fur, and The Year of the Fish
• (Cancelled due to rain) Monday 3/23 @ 9:15 pm – Nadine Bommer’s Manimation
• Tuesday 3/24 @ 8:00 pm – Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor’s Post-Martha
• Tuesday 3/24 @ 9:15 pm – works by Sharona Florsheim and Nadar Rosano
• Wednesday 3/25 @ 8:00 pm – Arkadi Zaides’s Meeting Brian Wash
• Wednesday 3/25 @ 9:15 pm – works by Hillel Kogan, Talia Paz, and Anat Shamgar
• Thursday 3/26 @ 7:30 pm – work by Smadar Emor
• Thursday 3/26 @ 9:15 pm – works by Michal Herman, Anat Katz, and Oren Nachum & Or Narin
• Friday 3/27 @ 12:00 pm – work by Sally-Ann Friedland & Galit Lis
• Friday 3/27 @ 9:30 pm – Nimrod Freed’s Flies in Peepdance
• Saturday 3/28 @ 10:30 am – family-friendly performance by choreographer Nima Yacoby (Voyage Box)
• Saturday 3/28 @ 12:30 pm – family-friendly performance by choreographer Nima Yacoby (Cinderella’s Dance)
• Saturday 3/28 @ 8:00 pm – Elina Pechersky
• Saturday 3/28 @ 9:15 pm – Ronit Ziv’s La Femme 1, La Femme 2
• **NEW DATE** Sunday 3/29 @ 8:00 pm – Idan Cohen’s Joy Ride, My Sweet Fur, and The Year of the Fish
• **NEW DATE** Sunday 3/29 @ 9:15 pm – Nadine Bommer’s Manimation
• Monday 3/30 @ 9:00 pm – Shlomit Fundaminsky & Itay Yatuv’s TICKING/Improformance
• Tuesday 3/31 @ 9:00 pm – work by Ofra Idel & Robby Edelman
• Wednesday 4/1 @ 8:00 pm – Renana Raz’s Motel
• Wednesday 4/1 @ 9:15 pm – works by Maya Levy, Odelia Kuperberg, and Sally-Ann Friedland
• Thursday 4/2 @ 8:00 pm – Rikudnetto Dance Group’s Conversations
• Friday 4/3 @ 9:30 pm – Alice Dor-Cohen’s A Little After the Middle
• Saturday 4/4 @ 11:00 am – family-friendly performance by choreographer Anat Danieli (The Four Seasons)
• Saturday 4/4 @ 8:00 pm – works by Ilanit Tadmor, Gilat Amotz, and Dafi Altebab
• Saturday 4/4 @ 9:15 pm – works by Maya Stern, Dana Ruttenberg, and Tamar Borer & Tamara Arda

Visit the Dance In Israel Events page for listings of each concert along with a Google map of the location at the Jaffa port (Nemal Yafo 2, Tel Aviv-Yafo).  To get to the hangar, descend from HaMigdalor Street to the port.   There is parking in the area, and several buses have stops on Yefet Street, relatively near the site.   You’re advised to wear layers since the hangar can be a bit chilly.  Want a little something to drink?  The hangar is outfitted with a bar and cafe.  Enjoy!

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• Home Port Festival: History in the Making for the Choreographers Association

Dance In Israel Articles about Members of the Amuta

• Close Encounters Series: Yasmeen Godder
• Dancing Through the Intifada: Yasmeen Godder’s “Strawberry Cream and Gunpowder”
• Renana Raz: Choreographing Israeli Culture and Beyond
• Viewing an Israeli Vision with Diasporic Eyes: A Look at Renana Raz’s “We Have Been Called to Go”
• Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor: An Interview with Dramatic Dancemakers

Many members of the Amuta are mentioned in my articles about the Curtain Up and International Exposure festivals.  I will also be publishing more articles about members of this organization in the future, so please keep following the website!

Related Links

• Amuta (Choreographers Association/Choreographers Society) website
  
• Home Port schedule (in Hebrew)
• Dance In Israel’s Links page – with links to the websites of many members of the Amuta
• Levontin 7

(Video: Hillel Kogan’s Everything)

It’s another jam-packed day of dance-watching!

Like Day 2 of International Exposure, Day 3 features two programs from the 2008 Curtain Up Festival.  We’ll start our day at 2:00 p.m. with Curtain Up 4:  Tomer Sharabi’s Monk, Hillel Kogan’s Everything, and Maya Stern’s Black Sea. At 5:00, Michael Getman’s Monday and Maya Levi’s Lifeline from Curtain Up 2 will complete the showings from this annual festival of premieres.

In between these two concerts, we’ll take an inside look into the Batsheva Dance Company.  We’re invited to Studio Varda for an open rehearsal of Ohad Naharin’s Project 5, a work for five women that premiered in July.

The evening is full of options for adventurous International Exposure attendees.  Across town at the Cameri Theater, Galia Fradkin’s La Mariposa is playing at 7:00 and 9:30 p.m.  At 8:00 and again at 10:00 p.m., Noa Dar’s Tetris will transform the choreographer’s central Tel Aviv studio into a most unusual performance space.  And at the Suzanne Dellal Center, Studio A will be the venue for the Acco Dance Center’s showing of Simon Rowe’s Welcome to Valhalla! at 8:30 p.m.

The Choreographers Society will host a reception at 9:00, which will no doubt be a welcome break before a 10:00 p.m. concert of four more works.  The Tel Aviv Dance Company will perform part of Ya’ara Dolev and Amit Goldenberg’s Tokyo Oranges, while the Nadine Bommer Dance Company will offer an excerpt from Bommer’s Manimation. Mami Shimazaki’s Chiki, Chiki 123 and Elina Pechersky’s Elina’s Muses round out the last program of the day.

See below for more videos and links.

(Video: Nadine Bommer’s Manimation)

(Video: Noa Dar’s Tetris)

Related Articles on Dance In Israel

• “Israel’s Curtain Up Festival: ‘Another Op’ning, Another Show’ for Contemporary Dance”
• “Noa Dar’s ‘Tetris’ – Shaping the Space”
• ” ‘Mamootot’: Challenging the Performer-Spectator Divide” (re: Batsheva)
• “Getting to Know the Batsheva Ensemble”
• “Gaga: Ohad Naharin’s Movement Language, in His Own Words”

Links to Companies and Choreographers

• Batsheva Dance Company
• Nadine Bommer
• Noa Dar
• Galia Fradkin
• Ya’ara Dolev and Amit Goldenberg
• Michael Getman
• Hillel Kogan
• Maya Levi
• Elina Pechersky
• Simon Rowe
• Mami Shimizaki
• Maya Stern and Tomer Sharabi

Other Useful Links

• Dance In Israel’s International Exposure coverage – full series
• Dance In Israel’s Links page – links to companies, choreographers, and more
• Cameri Theatre
• Choreographers Society
• Suzanne Dellal Center