Arts in Brief: Ky-Mani Marley brings rasta to TA

How many musical children did Bob Marley have, anyway? After Ziggy, Steven, Julian and Damien, now Ky-Mani Marley, the son of the late legendary reggae pioneer, will be making a journey to Tel Aviv for a show on February 20 at the Barby Club.

The only child of Marley and table-tennis champion Anita Belnavis, the 36- year-old Ky-Mani left Jamaica and was raised from the age of nine in the inner city of Miami, which explains why hip hop and rap are as much a part of his music as reggae.

His debut album, released in 1996, was titled Like Father Like Son, and since then Marley has enjoyed a diverse career spanning numerous styles and collaborations over five subsequent albums.
• David Brinn

ACUM honors Omer, Shapira

Author Devorah Omer and composer Arik Shapira have been named as 2013 recipients of Lifetime Achievement awards by ACUM, the national organization of songwriters and composers. Omer and Shapira will receive their awards at the organization’s 55th awards ceremony on January 30 at the Zionist Confederation House in Tel Aviv.

Omer, an Israel Prize winner, is being honored for over 50 years of contributions to the field of children’s literature.

Shapira is being cited for his unique contribution to the Israeli electronic music scene and expanding the boundaries of the Israeli musical landscape.
• David Brinn

Spring of Chinese dance

Last season, Spring of Chinese Dance won a place on the Suzanne Dellal Center’s annual roster. The event, which hosted the finest of both contemporary and traditional Chinese dance, brought tens of talented professionals to Israel for days filled with performances.

With 2013 right around the corner, preparations have recently begun for the new edition of Spring of Chinese Dance. The festivities will take place in late August and will include performances by Beijing Modern Dance Company and Chengdu Nationality Troupe Company LTD. Performances will be held in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Ashdod and Carmiel.

Spring of Chinese Dance will take place from February 18-24. For more information, visit www.suzannedellal.org.il.
• Ori J. Lenkinski

Your phone’s just the ticket

The Nissan Nativ Acting Studio is offering the public the chance to catch any of its seven forthcoming performances of Hanoch Levin’s The Hesitator in return for handing over an old cell phone for recycling. The show run starts Thursday, with performances taking place daily at the studio’s Herzl Street premises in Tel Aviv at 8:30 p.m.

The initiative is the result of a collaboration between the acting school and the Rebeep company which repairs and recycles used cell phones, and sends the apparatus (or, if the phone cannot be reactivated, spare parts) to Third World countries for use by consumers there.

The Hesitator tells the darkly comic story of an indecisive and entirely charmless single man who spends much of his time weighing up his marriage options, including a rotund lady, an under-fed one and a physically deformed single woman. Faced with such – for him – insalubrious options, our hero continues to dither and fantasize about his physically and emotionally perfect partner. The current production is directed by Shimon Mimran.

For tickets and more information about The Hesitator: (03) 518-2410. • Barry Davis