ByORI J. LENKINSKI
Updated:

Tucked away in the ecological art village of Netiv Halamed-Heh, Noa and Rina Wertheim barely felt the impact of corona. Having abandoned life in big cities years ago, they reveled in the quiet and peace provided by living off the beaten path.

Though Vertigo Dance Company was in the midst of a busy season when culture came crashing to a halt, the company was less affected than most. Over the past year, Noa, Rina and the creative and administrative staff of Vertigo continued to create, dance, host and engage their community in new and uncharted ways. They completed the construction of a new performance hall and are currently putting finishing touches on a new lobby. And now, as the world reopens, they will reveal a new creation titled “Pardes.”

“Actually, we started this piece in normal times,” says Noa Wertheim via Zoom. She and her sister and collaborator, Rina, sit on a deck. Behind them, curtains covering floor-to-ceiling windows waft in the breeze. “Corona sent us back to ourselves, to our personal space, to our insides. Before, we were running all the time. We didn’t have time to process anything, and so we were always reacting. We took that initial insight that we started with and used this period to focus inward. We sent our foreign dancers home and stuck with a cast of six, and we embarked upon a process that involved endless research and discovery.”

“There was something really special about corona because it allowed us to minimize and center ourselves. I made a duet with the musician Itamar Duari. Noa came to see rehearsals and to help me, and we dreamed to continue working with him. He’s usually really busy and can’t attend rehearsals, but because of the lockdowns he was free to be with us for the entire process. He came to the studio with all of his instruments. He was like another dancer,” says Rina.

The process was different from others in more ways than one. The cast was smaller, the collaborators more present, and there was no deadline.

“We worked and worked and worked. We weren’t pressured to make something. We had the time to really investigate; and now that things are opening, we are ready,” Rina adds.
 

The title “Pardes” refers to an orchard but also to the roots of the word, which hail from the Persian “paradise.”

In the piece, the dancers grapple with the duality of their lives, the tensions they experience between their individual needs and the demands of society, the person versus the universal, and the many spectra they move along every day.

“Human research is about the gap between the human experience and the loneliness we all suffer. The range is so wide,” says Noa.

In essence, “Pardes” is an attempt to see the forest and the trees at once.

The premiere will take place in the company’s complex on Netiv Halamed-Heh, another change from the norm.

“We decided to have the shows here. We want people to step out of their lives. The human race is always running. We wanted the audience to come see us here, to leave the city, to eat food. We think it will allow for a more whole experience that suits this period after so much time to confer with ourselves,” explains Rina. “We’ll go to the theaters later.”

This will mark the unveiling of Bronka Hall and Jack’s Place, donated by businessman Mike Fliderbaum and named after his parents, Bronka and Jack. Following the show, audience members will be treated to a meal prepared by chef Orit Kedem at Jack’s Place, a lobby/café overlooking the Eila Valley. This is part of a Vertigo initiative called Food & Art, which invites audiences to partake of a performance as well as a culinary experience.

“Pardes” will be presented on May 5, 6, 7, 19, 20 and 21 at the Vertigo Eco Art Village on Kibbutz Netiv Halamed-Heh. For more information: www.vertigo.org.il