Batsheva Dance Company has been
critically acclaimed and popularly embraced as one of the most exciting
contemporary dance companies in the world. Together with its junior
Batsheva Ensemble, the organization boasts a roster of 40 dancers drawn
from Israel and abroad. Touring extensively throughout the country and
internationally, the two companies present 250 performances annually.
Through daily training
in Gaga, Batsheva’s dancers research new movement possibilities and
awaken their dynamic sensitivity. They bring an eager curiosity and ripe
imagination to rehearsals, where they participate actively in the
creative process. Company members are also encouraged to express their
unique talents by creating for the annual Batsheva Dancers Create
project.
Many of the main company’s dancers honed their skills
as members of Batsheva Ensemble, which cultivates dancers from ages
18-24 and carries out the educational agenda of Batsheva. In addition to
performing for young audiences around the country, the Ensemble holds
open rehearsals, Gaga classes, and repertory workshops for dance
schools. Batsheva Ensemble also engages in outreach activities,
performing for underserved populations throughout Israel.
http://www.batsheva.co.il/en/About.aspx
Lunchtime Illumination: Ohad Naharin & Nicole Krauss
June 12, 12:00 Noon at Luminato Festival Hub
At this small event there were about 40 guests that came to hear Ohad
speak with Nicole. Nicole had recently seen Sadeh21 and she has also
participated in Batsheva workshops. The two talked about their works and
what inspires them. They discussed the contrast of a writer who is “in
her own mind” all day versus a dancer who works with people and her
physical body. Nicole asked Ohad about his inspiration behind his
composition. He spoke about his “holy trinity” of imagination, skill and
form. They spoke about his invention of the “Gaga” style how it is a
type of language. That relates both the art of writing and the art of
dancing, because they both use a certain type of language.
Ohad said that he shares the credit of the creativity with the
dancers. Each day, depending on how each of them is feeling, they all
bring something new to the table. They inspire him and change his
perspective.
Winchester Public School Workshop
June 15th, 10:30am at Winchester Public School, Grade 7 class
Along with two staff members from Luminato, one member of the
Batsheva Dance group came to Winchester Public School to give a
workshop. Winchester is an inner city school with students mainly from
immigrant families from the Middle East, Africa and the West Indies.
Bobbi, the dancer, gave a whole new meaning to the word "dance" to
these rambunctious grade seven students. Instead of the traditional
"moves" and "steps" one would assume a dancer would teach, Bobbi tells
the students to "feel their bones" to "float" on one side and feel heavy
on the other, and switch! This experience was nothing short of
enlightening for these students. Most adults are not aware of what
exactly modern dance is, these students were given a private lesson,
with encouragement to move differently, to explore different sensations.
The students started out as most would, giggling, trying to get a laugh
out of each other, boys on one side and the girls on the other. A
transition occurred when Bobbi instructed us to run and leap, all the
kids got really into it, as well as Luminato and Consulate staff. They
lost their inhibitions and followed every direction. Not only were
these students exposed to another form of art they had never explored,
they found out it was from a country none of them have explored; Israel.
When the students heard that "Gaga"; the type of dance, often referred
to as a language, created by Ohad Naharin, was from Israel there was a
hush over the crowd. They had only previously heard of Israel in the
news, it's known for the "situation" and now they see the small country
they know so little about has so much more to offer. The kids and the
teacher were very grateful that we came to their school. They thanked us
many times. This is a great pleasure for the Consulate and an
achievement of one of our important goals, to reach out to other
communities.
Dancing With Parkinson's
Date: Saturday June 16th, 2012 at United Church
The event began with a warm up for the dancing with Parkinson's
workshop. Luminatio and the Consulate brought Batsheva dancers to the
United Church on Bloor and held a workshop with people who have
Parkinson's disease. The dancers were very interactive and helpful in
the workshop. The 3 people from batsheva taught Gaga movements to the
elderly people which proved to be quite beneficial. After the workshop,
we sat in a circle and discussed the impressions of Gaga movement. The
members of Dancing with Parkinson's expressed the need for more dancing
like the one they experienced. Movement can make people with
Parkinson's anxious because it can affect memory and motor skills.
However, gaga does not have specific dance moves which were very freeing
for them. We were pleasantly surprised by the positive response that
the Gaga workshop received. There was a lot of discussion about having
someone in Toronto to have training in this type of movement so they
could regularly participate in dancing with Parkinson's workshops.
Open Dance Lesson
Date: Saturday June 16th, 2012 at Toronto Public Library
Batsheva sent one of their dancers to this public event and she
completed an excellent workshop for the group of about sixty people who
attended. There were people of all different ages and backgrounds who
participated in this workshop. The beauty of the gaga movement is that
it is able to reach a variety of people. The fact that anyone is able to
dance "Gaga", whether they are dancers or not, is very important for
bringing people together, which is ultimately a goal of the Consulate
General of Israel.