Showtime

Keeping the Tap running,‘Potent Wilderness,’ dancing out of their skins, and little wheels.

By BARRY DAVIS
Jerusalem Theatre (photo credit: Rebecca Crown Auditorium)
Jerusalem Theatre
(photo credit: Rebecca Crown Auditorium)
Keeping the Tap running
The explosive, comical and highly theatrical Tap Factory troupe is bringing its latest production to this part of the world, with five shows lined up between July 23 and 27, in Tel Aviv, Binyamina, Haifa, Rishon Lezion and Beersheba.
Tap Factory, which was created by Vincent Pausanias, has been doing the rounds of the world for many years, appearing across Europe and South America to packed audiences.
The show incorporates a colorful cross-section of genres and skills, from dance to percussion, and from theater to acrobatics and all liberally laced with a heaping helping of comedy.
The 12-man cast includes an international lineup of artists from France, Cuba and Ivory Coast, including some of the world’s leading tap dancers.
The sonic backdrop for the choreographed visual entertainment is provided by musicians churning out a barrage of percussion beats produced on drum sets and all manner of objects, from garbage cans to oil drums and the stage floor.
The dancers’ movements take in hip hop, acrobatics and street dance, performed against stark urbanesque scenery.
For tickets and more information:
(Binyamina) *9080 and www.zappa-club.co.il
(Haifa) www.barak-tickets.co.il
(Tel Aviv) (03) 692-7777 and www.israel-opera.co.il
(Rishon Lezion) (03) 948- 8665 and www.hakartis.co.il
(Beersheba) (08) 626-6400 ext. 1 and www.mishkan7.co.il
‘Potent Wilderness’
The “Potent Wildness” art exhibition opened at the Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery at the University of Tel Aviv last week and will run until September 6.
The show incorporates works from the Igal Ahouvi art collection, curated by Sarit Shapira, comprises the second part of the Babylon Trilogy, and addresses a broad spectrum of sensibilities and life philosophies, from apocalyptic concerts to the remnants of life following the collapse of Western culture in the postmodern age.
The exhibition features works that portray disasters observed from the perspective of time, and through the prism of memory that affords the spectator a temporal filter, giving the ability to forget national and personal tragedies. The artists’ lineup includes second and third generation Holocaust survivors, and references the trauma of the Yom Kippur War.
The show comprises installations, video works, projections, paintings, sculpture and photography by internationally acclaimed artists as well as newcomers to the local scene. These include Andy Warhol, Joseph Beuys, Gabriel Orozco, Charles Avery, Darren Almond, Moshe Kupferman, Jean Cocteau, Efrat Shvili, Gil Marco Shani, Tamar Getter, Benni Efrat and Ido Bar-El.
For more information: (03) 640-8860.
Dancing out of their skins
The Noa Dar dance company will present its new production Or (Skin) at the Warehouse 2 venue in Jaffa Port on July 17, 18 and 19 (9, 10 and 9 p.m. respectively).
Or explores the domain that exists between the physical boundaries of the human body and the exterior space in which it moves. The work places the human body at the center of a “research laboratory” that relates to the corporeal form as a multilayered container. The flexible and permeable outlines of the physique, and the various substances it incorporates, are considered in relation to space around it, and to other bodies in its vicinity. The interior of the body is perceived as a refuge from the frightening elements of life, but gradually turns into a prison.
For tickets: (03) 902-1563.
Little wheels
The Tahana compound in Tel Aviv is hosting a delightful show of model cars and trains, through to the end of August.
The exhibition includes around 100 models of Mercedes Benz cars dating back to the 19th century, as well as a kilometer of train tracks that takes the miniature models through lush European-style scenery.
The models include a scaleddown version of the very first Daimler vehicle ever produced – the world’s first car that was manufactured in 1886 – models of racing cars and models of trains through the ages, from steam engines to modern electric versions.
The exhibition is open seven days a week 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.