Young choreographers steal the stage

'Shades of Dance" (Gvanim beMahol) is back for the fourteenth time since its first performances in Ramle in 1984.

By HELEN KAYE
gvanim mahol 88 298 (photo credit: )
gvanim mahol 88 298
(photo credit: )
'Shades of Dance" (Gvanim beMahol) is back for the fourteenth time since its first performances in Ramle in 1984. Now as then, "Shades" provides an opportunity for young dance-makers to showcase their art on a professional stage. The event takes place at the Suzanne Dallal Center in Tel Aviv from May 9-17 and at the Ma'abada in Jerusalem from May 17-19. This year 13 works were selected from among the 120 or so projects submitted. They include: "Are You Lonesome Tonight" by Re'ut Shemesh, a dance for two women that incorporates text; "Pig and Pepper" by Tzafira Stern-Essel, in which a mother and her offspring explore their relationship through images; the duet "Sisters" by Michal Harsonovski and Shira Ben Zeev that was inspired by a 17th century French painting; Noa Shadur's "It Will End in Tears," in which three dancers explore the various facets of everyday violence; "They" by Doron Raz, in which three women seek the feminine in themselves; "Sea Horses" by Amit Zamir, in which four people in four different rooms get up one morning and decide to change; and "Alma" by Rachel Ardos, which presents a man, a woman and 25 apples. For the first time "Shades" will not be a competition. Instead, a panel from the America-Israel Foundation will present an NIS 25,000 grant to the work of its choice. The decision to cancel the competitive aspect of the event was made by Rami Levi, "Shades'" new artistic director who says "if there's a competition, then the artists work to win rather than for the work itself." Levi is a dancer-choreographer who danced with Batsheva Dance locally, went on to work in various European companies, including the famed Culberg Ballet in Sweden. He then established his own modern dance company in Barcelona. He replaces Naomi Perlov who was named artistic director in 1999, and who expanded the original "Shades" format to include workshops presented by international dance professionals and the addition of other disciplines, such as video, to the dance. Each of this year's works will be performed three times in Tel Aviv and once in Jerusalem. Each performance will present three to four different pieces.