Dance review: Sally-Ann Friedland dance group 'A-ne-no-me'

Sally-Ann Friedland is now presenting A-ne-no-me, with an ensemble of six female dancers.

By ORA BRAFMAN
Dance group 'A-ne-no-me.' (photo credit: INBAL COHEN HAMO)
Dance group 'A-ne-no-me.'
(photo credit: INBAL COHEN HAMO)
Large fields of red anemones cover the country in the winter, and the sea anemone is a colorful predator resembling a flower, found on coral reefs in the Red Sea in Eilat.
Sally-Ann Friedland was inspired by these two objects that share only a name.
South African-born, Friedland was known as a talented dancer with Bat-Dor and Batsheva and later tried to find her niche as independent choreographer, a demanding task which requires drive and survival skills. Against the odds she’s still going, now presenting A-ne-no-me, with an ensemble of six female dancers.
The meaning of the work’s title is unclear, but the work maintained thin ties to the original concept – including the depiction of sea anemones with a circle of twelve trembling legs in the air. The piece moved in various direction later on, applying other body perceptions, styles and ambiances, yet carrying Friedland’s basic aesthetic throughout, even when the dancers burst into screams for some obscure reason.
In the opening scene, which in many ways was the most interesting one, the lighting and video effects by Matan Golan played a crucial part. The visuals changed according to the light and dark areas controlled by video effects. The dancers became abstract objects, losing the form of the body. It brought to mind the work of experimental American choreographer Alvin Nikolais half a century ago, that researched the human qualities in totally covered moving forms.
Friedland used her imagination, providing unusual angles, interesting focal points of the dancing body. Yet she gave up too early. Once she felt that she had exhausted her research, she shifted attention to out-of-context expressions, losing the chance to layer her artistic statement, and ended with an uncalled for animal-riding scene, taken from Ohad Naharin’s recent creation.