Bio

Ohad Naharin

Ohad Naharin is a Contemporary Choreographer who has been making a name for himself in the dance world since he first began dancing in 1974. He was born on Kibbutz Mizra in 1952.  His father was a doctor in psychology and a retired actor; his mother a dance teacher. Both supported him as he worked in his creative mind and body: writing, music, painting, gymnastics, folk dancing, and more. “I used to dream dances.  I started to choreograph because I just wanted to dance more. It points to something that I enjoy doing, which is making up things, whether it’s writing, painting, music.” (Lewis) It was the strength of his imagination and love of movement that carried through to his adulthood which gave him inspiration and a desire to “distort reality in order to create [his] own world.” (Boccadoro) 

He began training with the Batsheva Dance Company in 1974 after military service in the Israeli army. It was in the Dance Company when Martha Graham, a guest choreographer, asked him to come back with her to New York.  In 1975 he left for the United States where he studied at the Graham School, the School of American Ballet, and Julliard. He left in 1976 to perform with Maurice Bejart’s Balle du XXe Siecle in Brussels, and then with Israels Bat-Dor Dance Company.  It wasn’t until 1980 that he returned to New York to establish his own company the Ohad Naharin Dance Company with his wife Mari Kajiwara. He married Mari, a former Alvin Ailey dancer in 1978 who later died in 2001 at age 50 of cancer.

In 1990 Naharin returned to his roots at the Batsheva Dance Company where he became Artistic Director (not for the years 2003-2004, only House Choreographer). He has choreographed over 20 works for the company exploring his Gaga technique, refining it as he continues to learn and discover.  He began to develop this technique after a severe back injury left him with permanent nerve and spine damage.  Naharin was forced to develop a form of movement which was more efficient and used different muscles.  The word Gaga itself means hit in Hebrew and despite its name the technique teaches a dancer how to unblock the body.

While being working with the Batsheva Dance Company he has also done guest residencies at many other prominent dance companies.  They are the Nederlands Dans Theatre, Ballet Frankfurt, Lyon Opera Ballet, Compania Nacional de Danza (Spain), Culberg Ballet (Sweeden), Finish National Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, Bale da Cidade de Sao Poulo, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet (New York), Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Los Grand Ballets Canadiens de Montreal.  Needless to say he is a very busy man, and one who will continue to be. I for one look forward to seeing what other discoveries he will make.

It was during his work in 2007 with the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in New York that Tomer Heymann created a documentary “Out of Focus” on Naharin’s rehearsal process.  Here is a clip of the documentary…
"Out of Focus" documentary clip

~Tasha

Works Cited:

Boccadoro, Patricia. "Batsheva Dance Company at the Theatre de Saint-Quentin-en Yvelines: ." Dance: Interviews . Culturekiosque Publications Ltd, 2004. Web. 21 Feb 2012. http://www.culturekiosque.com/dance/inter/batsheva.html.

Goodwin, Joy. "Free Your Mind, and Your Spine Will Follow." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 03/06/2007. Web. 21 Feb 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/arts/dance/03joy.html?sq=Ohad Naharin&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=4&adxnnlx=1329873970-YNAd04r7eWuDM/BUZnYHRQ.

. "Ohad Naharin." Batsheva Dance Company. Suzanne Dellal Center, n.d. Web. 21 Feb 2012.     http://www.batsheva.co.il/en/Ohad.aspx     

Johnstone, Nick. "Ohad Naharin: The maverick lord of Israeli dance." The JC.com. N.p., 17/10/2008. Web. 21 Feb 2012. http://www.thejc.com/arts/theatre/6969/ohad-naharin-the-maverick-lord-israeli-dance.

Lewis, Kristin. "The Pleasure of Motion – Ohad Naharin." Movmnt. E-MAPROD Inc., 2007. Web. 21    Feb 2012.

                http://www.movmnt.com/ohad-naharin_00196.html.