Tucked away on a not-so-traveled street in the western section of the city, Tel
Aviv’s fringe hub, Tmuna Theater, is a beacon for emerging performers and
adventure-seeking audiences. Perhaps less polished than its cultural
counterparts; Tmuna offers an industrial, do-it-yourself kind of feel for the
spectator. And while its surroundings may not scream glamor, some of Israel’s
most treasured stage creations have emerged from Tmuna’s halls.
On
Tuesday, the theater kicked off its annual Tmuna Festival. Over the
course of 10 days, the various spaces of the Tmuna Theater will host premieres,
reinventions and highlights from the past year of creation. Each evening has a
program that features either dance or theater, as well as a live musical
performance. The festival, curated by artistic director Nava Zuckerman, together
with Yair Vardi, is a smorgasbord of all the best goodies that have passed
through the theater in recent months. And the good news is that all tickets cost
NIS 30, made possible by support from the Tel Aviv Municipality.
Michal
Herman has been a longtime frequenter of Tmuna’s stages. A veteran of the
Intimadance Festival, Herman presents witty choreographies that have thrived in
the intimate environs of the amphitheater. For this festival, she decided to
take on a new space. Her premiere, Plan B, will be performed in the
garage. Audiences can expect to feel most welcome, as Herman’s newest
creation is an ode to the friendly façade of flight crew members. Herman
will be joined on stage by seasoned performer Inbal Shahar.
Anat
Eisenberg’s A Provocation Pure and Simple is a duet for two Berlin-based female
dancers. Saga Sigurdardottir and Dani Brown are powerful performers, who each
bring her own femininity and charisma to Eisenberg’s opus. Though
Eisenberg’s work has been shown many times in Israel, this piece is a guest
production from Berlin, where Eisenberg currently lives and
works. Drawing images from the digital sphere, A Provocation resonates
with the manifold changes the Internet and media world bring to their users
every day.
Niv Shenfeld and Oren Laor will host another stand-out
premiere at the festival. Their premiere of Two Room Apartment marks the first
revival of an Israeli choreography. The original Two Room Apartment was first
shown in 1987 by the dance-making duo Nir Ben-Gal and Liat Dror. Ben- Gal and
Dror’s work is considered a seminal Israeli piece and a landmark for a shift in
local creation. In the years since, many choreographers have referenced this
piece; however, no one has ever attempted to recreate it. Shenfeld and
Laor will perform the duet themselves, using Ben- Gal and Dror’s work as a close
inspiration.
For local choreographers, there are two major events hosted
at Tmuna each year: the Intimadance Festival and the Agenre Festival. Both
events host new and emerging choreographers during several evenings of mixed
programs. Most local dance-makers have enjoyed at least one premiere
during one of these two fringe festivals. The Intimadance Festival challenges
choreographers to take on a certain trigger or inspiration, while A-genre opens
its doors to theater and dance pieces that think outside of the box, so to
speak. In the mixed program section of the festival, two evenings will showcase
the best of this past year’s Intimadance and A-genre festivals. The evenings
will include works by Omer Uziel and Yuval Goldstein, Maya Yogel, Dana
Ruttenberg and Olivia Court Mesa.
Following the performances each
evening, a musical performance will be held in the bar space or in one of the
theater halls. Musicians to take the stage are Dikla, Avi the Singer and Amir
Lev.
The Tmuna Festival will take place through October 27. For more
information, visit www.tmuna.org.il.