Dance

Dance

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    ​Karmiel Dance Festival.jpg
    Photo Credit: Mati Elmaliakh

    Dance in Israel has developed in two directions: expansion of the Jewish folk dance genre; and the establishment of art dance, leading to stage productions created by professional choreographers and performed by trained dancers. Dance as an art form was introduced in the country in the 1920s by newly arrived teachers and devotees of dance from cultural centers across Europe. After the establishment of the state, a number of ensembles developed dance to a high professional level; each founded on the basis of a different orientation and style, influenced by Israel’s diverse and varied social, religious and cultural backgrounds. Today more than a dozen major professional dance companies, most of them based in Tel Aviv, perform a varied repertoire throughout the country and abroad.

     
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  • Did you know?

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    • ​Today, more than a dozen major professional dance companies, most of them based in Tel Aviv, perform a varied repertoire throughout the country and abroad.

    • Israel's contributions to the field of movement education include the methods of Moshe Feldenkrais, which are taught all over the world, and the Eshkol-Wachman movement notation system, one of the three best-known systems of recording dance and movement in written form.

    • The early pioneers brought with them native dances which were adapted to their new milieu. Among them, a Romanian dance, the hora, typified the new life being built in the Land of Israel: its closed circle form gave equal status to all participants, simple movements enabled everyone to take part and the linked arms symbolized the new ideology.

    • Founded in 1964, The Batsheva Dance Company, is an internationally acclaimed  dance company based in Tel Aviv, which boasts a roster of 34 dancers drawn from Israel and abroad and maintains an extensive performance schedule locally and internationally. With close to 270 performances in 2012, Batsheva reached a record global audience of some 95,000 spectators. 
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    • ​Ohad Naharin is a famous Israeli contemporary dance choreographer. In 1980 he formed the Ohad Naharin Dance Company with his wife, Mari Kajiwara and from 1980 until 1990, Naharin’s company performed in New York and abroad to great critical acclaim. Naharin pioneered Gaga, an innovative movement language which emphasizes the exploration of sensation and availability for movement, and is now the primary training method for dancers at the Batsheva Dance Company. Naharin won numerous awards for his achievements, among them the Israel Prize in 2005.

    • The Karmiel Dance Festival, created by Choreographer Yonatan Karmon in the late 1980s, is held in the Israeli town of Karmiel every summer. The festival is an energetic takeover of the entire northern town for three days of Israeli dance performances, competitions and public dancing.

    • The Israel Ballet is the only company in Israel performing the great classical and neo-classical ballets of the international repertoire. Operating from 1967, the company is comprised of a group of 30 dancers from all over the world, amongst them native Israelis, new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and foreign guests.

    • The Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company is one of Israel’s most prominent dance companies and is widely identified with the works of Artistic Director Rami Be’er. The Company  is comprised a total of 60 Israeli and international dancers and is well respected both in Israel and around the world. 
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