Showtime

The three-day PlugFest festival will take place at Kfar Hanokdim, near the Dead Sea, at the foothills of the historic hilltop site.

By BARRY DAVIS
The Dead Sea 370 (photo credit: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)
The Dead Sea 370
(photo credit: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)
Plugging the Dead Sea
Next weekend (May 9-11) the environs of Masada will probably be a little less tranquil than normal. The three-day PlugFest festival will take place at Kfar Hanokdim, near the Dead Sea, at the foothills of the historic hilltop site. The vicinity will rock and groove to the sounds of leading lights of the international commercial music scene such as smash hit New Yorkbased rap, house and alternative and singer-songwriter Azealia Banks; British singer-songwriter Jessie Ware, who puts out soul, R&B and trip-hop material; top Brazilian pop act CSS; and legendary Jamaican reggae and dub artist Lee Scratch Perry.
There will also be plenty of top homegrown entertainment on offer, in the form of producer-singer Adi Ulmansky and the Buttering Trio band, which offers a heady sonic and rhythmic brew of African-inflected trip-hop and experimental material. Stellar Israeli bass guitarist Yossi Fine and his Ex-Centric band, and their dub and Afro beat sounds, also feature in the heavyweight festival lineup.
For tickets and more information: www.plugfest.co.il
Batsheva in the field
The Batsheva Dance Company will perform Sadeh 21 (Field 21) at its Jaffa Port auditorium from May 8 to 11. The work, which was written by Batsheva head Ohad Naharin, involves all the company’s 20 dancers in the creative process and employs Naharin’s unique Gaga dance technique.
Later this month – May 17-23 – the company will put on six performances of Naharin’s latest work, The Hole, a site-specific production which will be performed at the Varda Studio venue at the Suzanne Dellal Center in Jaffa. The audience of The Hole sits very close to the action, which takes place on the studio’s octagonal stage and incorporates every inch of it. The work is performed in two versions – the male version is called “Shoshana,” while the female rendition goes by “Pigs.”
For tickets and more information: (03) 517-1471 and www.batsheva.co.il
Art for healing’s sake
The Plaster arts sale charity event will take place at the Jaffa Arts Salon in the Jaffa Port, from Thursday through Saturday. The sale is taking place as a fundraiser for the Israeli branch of the international Physicians for Human Rights organization.
The works come from a wide range of local artists, including Shai Azoulay, Dan Alon, Ofri Cnaani, Yael Meiri, Simcha Shirman and Assaf Shaham. All the works will be sold for $1,000 each, with 25 percent of the proceeds going to the artists.
The sale, which also marks the organization’s 25th anniversary in Israel, is designed to raise funds for the Physicians for Human Rights’ open medical clinics, which provide medical services for socioeconomically disadvantaged people. The first open clinic was established in Jaffa in 1988, specifically for people who do not enjoy any official legal status in this country and, as such, are unable to obtain state-aided medical services from hospitals here. The organization’s services include a mobile unit, pediatrics, gynecology and psychiatry, as well as coordinating operations and other complex medical procedures with Israeli hospitals.
For more information: 054-427-7437, (03) 604-1114 and 054-699-5199
The ‘Pleasures’ of dance
Hamama of the Acre Theater Center will perform Gogy’s Pleasures at the Yaron Auditorium in the Suzanne Dellal Center in Jaffa at 9 p.m. on May 13.
The show is part of this year’s Dance Tel Aviv Festival.
Pleasures is based on a vision of a postmodern world in which pleasure is the ultimate goal, love has become increasingly elusive and the individual is a pitiable creature. The work extols the virtues of women, through the eyes of Gogy.
The dance is choreographed and directed by Merav Cohen, with the dance lineup including Yoav Greenberg, Tamar Bar-Niv, Merav Alhadef amd Merav Dagan.
For tickets: (03) 510-5656