Ambitious and promising

The relatively new Cedar Lake dance company will bring its talent to Israel with works by leading choreographers.

By HELEN KAYE
dance good 2 88 224 (photo credit: Courtesy)
dance good 2 88 224
(photo credit: Courtesy)
This year, the influential Dance magazine named Benoit Swan-Pouffer's five-year-old Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet as one of 25 US companies to watch. Its 16 dancers move with ease between classical ballet and the most contemporary and cutting edge dance. The company's stated mandate is to explore joyfully the endless possibilities of movement by showcasing the talents of the world's leading choreographers. Born and raised in France, dancer/choreographer Swan Pouffer, 33, started dancing when he was six and by 14 knew that dance was what he wanted. He moved to the US in 1997 to join Alvin Ailey with whom he danced until 2004. Untitled 1, the first piece he choreographed, was created in 2001. His newest work is Glassy Essence, part installation and part dance that premiered in April this year. His company opens Tel Aviv Dance (TAD) 2008, which runs from October 23 through 25 at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, with three works by leading choreographers, including Ohad Naharin's Decca-Dance. The others are Sunday, Again by Jo Stromgren and Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue by Crystal Pite. To master Decca-Dance, the Cedar Lake dancers had to work in GaGa, Naharin's unique dance language, taught when he worked with them last year - an experience which "has transfigured" already "superb and versatile performers," according to dance critic Deborah Jowitt. Prize-winning Canadian dancer/choreographer Pite, 37, created her first professional dance piece at only 19 when she was dancing with the Ballet British Columbia. She went on to dance with William Forsythe's Frankfurt Ballet and in 2004 founded her own company, Kidd Pivot, that will perform her Lost Action at TAD '08 in November. Stromgren (b. 1970), a Norwegian, is a multi-disciplinary creative artist who has gained renown as a playwright, director and choreographer, composing works for both classical and contemporary dance worldwide. Cedar Lake will open its Israel tour at the Haifa Auditorium on October 22, and will dance at Herzliya performing Arts Center (October 27 and 28) and at the Jerusalem Theater (October 29).