A world premiere

As part of Tel Aviv Dance 2013, a program of three works renders a multi-textural experience.

By ORI J. LENKINSKI
Tel Aviv Dance (photo credit: Gadi Dagon)
Tel Aviv Dance
(photo credit: Gadi Dagon)
In the art world, recognition is a tricky animal. Artists aim to receive it, to gain the love of an audience and to stamp their creative passports with as many events as possible. And while the talented strive to make their mark, the individuals tasked with programming and curating search endlessly for the diamonds in the rough, the unknown names that they will bring to the light of the stage.
Bringing forth lesser-known choreographers has been a major part of the Suzanne Dellal Center’s activities over the past several years. In previous seasons, artistic director Yair Vardi extended a hand to Barak Marshall, whose works have gone on to receive international acclaim. Prior to his arrival in Israel in 2008, Marshall had taken a long hiatus from the dance world. Today, he is commissioned to create works for companies around the globe. Last year, SDC presented Wonderland by Marshall. together with The Diplomats by local choreographer Renana Raz.
This year, as part of Tel Aviv Dance 2013, the center will unveil their newest foray into the unknown. The production, which premieres on May 15 and 16, is a mixed program featuring three works by four emerging choreographers. Nadav Zelner, Zvika Iskiyas and Shiri Capuano Quantz and Idan Forges each received a cast of handpicked dancers and several months in the studio. The works that emerged range from pure movement to dance theater, creating a multi-textural audience experience.
The evening will kick off with Kadem by Tzvika Iskiyas and Shiri Capuano Quantz. The research for Kadem began with the notion of home. In Iskiyas’s previous works, choreographed for the Ethiopian troupe Bayta, origins and belonging are major themes. Last year, in the Other Dance Festival at the Suzanne Dellal Center, Iskiyas and Quantz premiered a duet that portrayed through movement a deep desire to feel at home with oneself and with another. This duet became the core of Kadem , which is danced by Iskiyas, Quantz and five additional performers. An original score by Amit Chai Cohen accompanies the dancers throughout their journey.
Nadav Zelner’s MushroomZ is an exploration of a life lived in the urban sprawl. Temptations exist around every corner, thrills, fantasies and pleasures lure city dwellers to stray from their path. A cast of five dances the piece. Zelner is a recent addition to Tel Aviv’s dance community, having moved south from the pastoral hills of Kibbutz Ga’aton. A former member of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Zelner choreographs with energy and physicality.
The third piece in the evening comes from Idan Forges.
At The End She Dies is a narrative work that tells the story of Shishgril Miller, a cabaret performer found dead in her dressing room moments before opening night of a new show in east Shanghai. Forced to step in for his star, the director of the theater grasps at straws in attempts to fill her shoes and please the wary audience. The piece is a comic thriller for a cast of six. Forges is a former member of the Batsheva Ensemble and has been seen recently dancing in Barak Marshall’s Rooster . Hailing from the theater world, Forges brings a dramatic, clever edge to his movement.
For more information, visit www.suzannedellal.org.il.