Tel Aviv Dance Festival goes mobile, connecting many individual pieces

This year, the Tel Aviv Dance Festival appears symbolic of a giant mobile floating in the air, an organizing structure connecting many individual pieces. These moving parts, carefully selected by Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre’s team including artistic director Naomi Perlov and CEO Anat Fischer Leventon, will be presented over the course of three weeks. Each piece can be viewed independently or in the broader context of the festival’s program. 

“We took relationality into consideration when selecting the artists and works we would present,” explained Perlov to a group of journalists seated in Yaron Yerushalmi Hall. For example, she explained that Dance On Ensemble’s performance of Lucinda Child’s Works in Silence and Jackie “Miss Funk” Lopez’s lecture and performance can both be viewed through the lens of dance in New York City in the 1970s. Though the two shows do not share the same movement language, they both speak to a specific moment in history. 

Another counterpoint in the program can be found between Noe Soulier’s “The Kingdom of Shades” and “Solo” by Radim Vizvary. The first is an exploration of the mime vocabulary of ballet performed by former Paris Opera Ballet soloist Vincent Chaillet. The second is a contemporary mime performance that pushes the classic art form into the present. 

Other international artists presenting during the festival are Italian Sylvia Garibaldi with “A Corpo Libero” and “Rosa,” Edward Hue and his Beaver Dam Company with “All I Need,” and Tanzanian ensemble Nantea Dance Company with “Wakati.”

Perlov and Fischer Leventon have been in their positions for over two years and have thoroughly revived and revamped the center’s activities during that time. They have visited multiple festivals abroad, scouting for artists whose works would enrich the local audience. They have also headed several local programs including 123, a platform for new choreographers and an extensive residency program designed for mid-career and established artists. 

One such artist is Annabelle Dvir, who showed 10 minutes of a full-evening creation developed in residency at Suzanne Dellal. Entitled “Crescendo Gold,” her work is a result of ongoing research into the confluence of voice, musical instruments, and physical body on stage. Performed by members of Dvir’s ensemble Women of Sounds, “Crescendo Gold,” is a primal excursion into her Georgian heritage. 

Another artist to present was Roy Assaf with “A Tractate In Memory Of.” Though Assaf claimed not to work from the desire to speak about a specific subject, his duet, performed by two female dancers, was accompanied by a vocal recording of an interview between Israeli dance pioneers Ruth Eshel, Yardena Cohen, and Gila Toledano. The beautifully composed movement seemed to relate to the origins from which today’s contemporary dance stems. 

The final live presentation was by Batsheva Dance Company members Billy Barry and Gianni Notarnicola. Entitled “G.O.A.T.S,” (going on a trip, sis) it is an exploration of the meeting between these two dancers and their desire to travel, trip, and move. 

Other local artists at Tel Aviv Dance

Other local artists to present in Tel Aviv Dance include Yasmeen Godder with “S.O.S. – Songs of Sequence,” Stav Struz Boutrous with “Spaces,” and Danny Tavori and Nir Jacob with “Experiments in Communication by Means with No Emotion.” The festival will close with “Reflections” by Adi Boutrous.

In addition to the stage performances, Tel Aviv Dance will continue the already-established collaboration between Suzanne Dellal and Teder. There will be an outdoor jam by the Cypher Connection hosting a lineup of hip-hop and breakdance artists such as Moses Joses, Nicki Schell, and DJ Bj Piggo from Slovakia. DJ Shiwa Biwa, DJ Lamotta, and DJ Ziv Barashi will each play a set in the main courtyard of the center. Video artists Yosef Mashiach and Daniel Nahum will project their video mapping and animation on the outer walls of the center’s structures. 

Tel Aviv Dance will take place at the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre from July 18- August 3. For more information, visit www.suzannedellal.org.il.