Beyond the fringe

The Tmuna Theater kicks off its annual International Festival featuring dance, theater and live music.

By HELEN KAYE
YARDENA GILBOA and Mor Dovrat’s ‘Freedom of Speechless.’ (photo credit: SHIR ABRAMOV)
YARDENA GILBOA and Mor Dovrat’s ‘Freedom of Speechless.’
(photo credit: SHIR ABRAMOV)
The Tmuna International Festival, the sixth of its kind for the 30 year old fringe theater, runs from October 23 to November 7, sixteen days of theater, performance, dance, music and the plastic arts with the participation of artists from Poland, Germany, Austria, the USA and, naturally, Israel. There are also collaborations, Israel with, severally, Spain, Switzerland and Germany.
At center is The Polish Invasion, a bundle of pieces and performers from Poland. A highlight is an exhibition of his photos by Krzysztof Miller that range from horror-stained to irony and compassion as they document the blood-soaked regions of our world. Musician and graphic artist Alexandra Grunholz brings her surrealist We Will Fail. Choreographer and dancer Ramona has created a tribute to mythic director Tadeuscz Kantor in Pure, while queer performance artist Valatanz, accompanied by sound designer Justyna, arrives with notes on love and other stuff which is a look at life versus social processes, as well as with a sound riff that will happen in Tmuna’s bar.
The four Israeli premieres include Suspicious Incident, a black comedy by Noam Gil that investigates a murder in a settlement, and Elifelet, a performance piece by Ilil Lev Canaan that takes a hard look at our all too frequent mourning rituals.
Here’s something to titillate the imagination. People were asked to write letter describing their favorite movements relative to dance. They did. Now they and the audience will watch Berlin-based Thomas Plischke and Kattrin Deufert’s Just in Time to see what they did with those movements in an interactive dance piece.
Additionally Rave Machine by Doris Ulich explores physical limitations with her dancer, Michael Turinski performing in a wheelchair while in Bodies in a State of Emergency Patricia Carolin Mai collaborates with Clipa dancer/performer Dror Lieberman. Yardena Gilboa (Isr.) and Mor Dovrat (Switz.) have collaborated in Freedom of Speechless that takes a hard look as fascism against/with/ in art.
And not least there’s a tribute to the contemporary music ensemble Musica Nova which is celebrating its 30th birthday with the festival’s opening night concert, Pulsa de Nova.
There are also revivals/updates of past events and much more.
For more info visit www.tmuna.org.il