February 21- First Blog Post, Part 2

"There are no new concepts, everything has already been done. What is left is reorganization." 

-Ohad Naharin

A unique style born of love and language of movement has been created by Ohad Naharin. Naharin's observations and inspiration of his choreography comes from several honest places that many dancers and choreographers do not address in combination: love and injuries.

""My new dance language began after I had a serious back injury and I started relating to my body differently...That, plus what was learned from other people, enabled me to put together a way of working now used by the whole company," said Naharin in an interview. This new relation to the world helped Naharin establish that "love, forgiveness, and the joy of movement..."

Naharin's reevaluated his choices physically and the decision to view himself and world from a new perspective enabled him into growing artistically. The physical core to Naharin's contribution to dance is his stylistic movement and choreography, but I believe his perspectives on choreographic creation are foremost in the field in regards to how love and type of musicality reign over a physique.  I think Naharin's views on having "smart" dancers is the most important factor in his choices as an artistic director and choreographer.

Another interesting aspect of Naharin that has distinguished him in the field are the musical choices he makes for his pieces. While other contemporary companies like Complexions Contemporary Ballet are also exploring popular musical choices that modern companies have not indulged in before, Naharin expands his musical selection to everything from abstract musical group AGF, to The Beach Boys, and classical composer JS Bach (just to name a few). The originality of these compositions further distinguishes Naharin as an inventor.

Naharin is important to the dance world because while his movement and choreography is stunning - his perspectives on life are intuitive and thought provoking.  Naharin once said that when he talks about choreography, he doesn't "talk about the training or the official premiere, but about the force of creativity and the use of imagination." This type of thinking has been shared by influential dancer/choreographers in history as well. Naharin's physical and emotional ties to his artistic work will make his choreography and vision for Bathsheva Dance Company prolific for years to come. 


---Kym




Work Cited:
Boccadoro, Patrici. "Batsheva Dance Company at the Theatre de Saint-Quentin-en Yvelines: In Conversation With Ohad Naharin."Culturekiosque Dance. Culturekiosque Publications Ltd, 2004. Web. 20 Feb 2012. <http://www.culturekiosque.com/dance/inter/batsheva.html>.


Baker, Jasmine. Interview: Ohad Naharin. October. Washington DC: The Nation, 2007. Print.