'Minus 16'

This is a shout out to our very own Brenna Marlin who wanted to know a bit more about Ohad’s work “Minus 16.” What better way to explain the movement but in a YouTube clip so you can see it yourself.  Words can only say so much. I was actually going to put it up a bit later, because like you said it breaks up the text nicely, but now is as good a time as ever. Especially when we have requests for it! Here is a bit more background on the piece itself.  Its world premiere was on the Nederlands Dans Theater II in 1999 (before his wife’s passing).  It has since been performed by many other companies as well, but it was with the Ailey’s premiere of it that it became something more; something special.  He wanted all of their performances to be dedicated to her. This time the work itself is actually composed of excerpts from 4 other of his previous works: Mabul, Anaphaza, Zachacha, and Echad Ma Yodea. There is a duet (which is a section in the video clip) that Ohad made sure was in this setting of Minus 16.  It had been in a couple others including the first setting on the Nederland Dans Theater II.  He wanted it specifically in this reconstruction because, Ohad said, “It seems right, especially because we’re doing it for Mari (Herschthal).” If you watch the video clip and see the duet I think you will see why he said that. *note: we also put our citations at the bottom of each post feel free to check them out!*

Kussell, Stacey. "'Minus 16' Is Plus for Ailey." The Jewish Daily Forward. Forward Association, Inc., 13/12/2011. Web. 8 Mar 2012. http://forward.com/articles/147748/?p=all.



Herschthal, Eric. "The Choreography That Binds." Teh JEwish Week. The Jewish Week Inc., 06/12/2011. Web. 8 Mar 2012. http://www.thejewishweek.com/arts/dance/choreography_binds.

~T