Ohad Naharin's "Mammoths" will be fleet-footing it all over stages in Israel, Holland and the US this month.
By JPOST.COM STAFF'Kind' of like theater
November 13 is International Kindness Day and throughout the world some 70 Playback Theater companies will create instant playlets centering on that theme. The 14-year-old Israel Playback Theater will be at Jaffa's Simta Theater on November 12 and at Beit Tami on Tel Aviv's Sheinkin Street on November 13 doing the same thing.
During the show, somebody in the audience is invited to come up on stage and tell a personal story on kindness. Once finished, the Playback actors fashion the material into a play, complete with music. Playback Israel was created by Aviva Apel who studied in the US with Playback Theater founder Jonathan Fox. You can learn about the organization at www.globalplayback.org
Musical Saturdays at Abu Gosh
Fans of the marvelous acoustics at the Our Lady of the Ark Church in Abu Gosh have a seven concert winter series to enjoy at noon on Saturdays. It starts November 26 with "When Porgy Met Bess," choral songs by famous 20th century Jewish composers, featuring the Ramat Gan Chamber Choir. The two December concerts offer the by-now-traditional performance of "Handel"'s Messiah with the New Vocal Ensemble (17/12) and chorales by Bach (31/12). Other concerts offer a tribute to the Virgin (7/1) by Pergolesi, Brahms and Faure, more Bach cantatas (28/1), and Irish music (25/2). Tickets are a pricey NIS 109.
A multiplicity of Mammoths
Ohad Naharin's "Mammoths" will be fleet-footing it all over stages in Israel, Holland and the US this month.
After performing three shows in Holland, Batsheva Dance will take "Mammoths" to BAM, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where all three of the shows scheduled between November 15-27 have already been sold out. "Mammoths" will appear at BAM as part of the New York Next Wave Festival. Another cast will appear from November 10-26 at Suzanne Dellal in Tel Aviv. Created in 2003, "Mammoths" uses nine dancers who perform to an audience seated in a square surrounding them.