Personally, I thought it was refreshing in a world where many choreographers are full of themselves when I found an interview with Naharin being not only humble but also comical about his personal political views, "I don't think the Israeli Government would want me to be seen as any kind of spokesman."
So, what are Naharin's works about if he is not trying to make any outspoken statements?
Besides a continual reconstruction of his choreography over time, many of Naharin's works with Batsheva include Gaga Technique's themes of passion, emotion, imagery, and physicality. While Naharin may not want to make any religious statements with his work, "Minus 16" involved a traditional Hebrew song from Passover. "Minus 16" also touched on Hebrew tradition and the history of Judaism in regards to ritual and communities. However, when "Minus 16" was set on Alvin Ailey members in New York, Alvin Ailey dancer Alicia Graf Mack said that Ohad purposely did not translate the Hebrew or give a sense of story when they set the work. “They [Ohad] emphasized the strength of the movement and the power of dancing as a group," said Mack. "But for me, the piece is about struggle, and coming out of a struggle stronger and smarter. Knowing the history and mission of Ailey, it feels especially relevant.” This is a clear example of the success of Naharin's goals: To make the passion of dance accessible to everyone. Although Naharin created "Minus 16" with the history of Judaism in mind, Mack was able to apply the passion and intensity she felt for the piece to her own life.
How did Naharin develop his views on choreography then?
Recruited into dance by Martha Graham, Naharin seems to adopted some of her philosophies regarding dance, most notably Graham's quote, "Movement never lies." Gaga Technique's connectivity between mind and body seem to represent this quote well. Like Graham who developed a techinique that was unfamiliar to dance audiences, Naharin developed the Gaga Technique, which I think has the strength to become as notable as the Graham Technique. Naharin has the creativity and originality to make the Gaga Technique a codified dance form. Here is a video of Naharin explaining some of the terms his uses in Gaga (and is really interesting!!) : http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/34635379#pm_cmp=vid_OEV_P_P . Lastly, like Graham who was one of the first modern choreographers to start experimenting with other artists for collaborations musically, Naharin is famously known for incorporating many mixes of composers into his choreography. Naharin jumps from the Beach Boys to traditional Hebrew verses.
Below is a clip from "Minus 16" - the second half of the video (once you hear the audience laughing) is the portion where (in this case- NDT) company members bring some of the audience on stage to "dance" with them. Another example of Naharin's desire to spread the love and passion for dance to everyone!
Work Cited
Kussell, Stacey Menchel . "'Minus 16' is a Plus for Ailey." The Jewish Daily. FORWARD, 2011. Web. 29 Mar 2012. <http://forward.com/articles/147748/minus--is-plus-for-ailey/?p=all>.
Herschthal, Eric. "The Choreography That Binds." Teh JEwish Week. The Jewish Week Inc., 2011. Web. 29 Mar 2012. <http://www.thejewishweek.com/arts/dance/choreography_binds>.
Verghis, Sharon. "The Hot Seat: Ohad Naharin, choreographer ." The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media, 25 Nov 2006. Web. 29 Mar 2012. <http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/the-hot-seat-ohad-naharin-choreographer/2006/11/23/1163871531366.html?page=3>.
"The Modern Dancers: Martha Graham." Pitt. edu. . N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar 2012. <http://www.pitt.edu/~gillis/dance/martha.html>
So I found interesting his opinions about politics. Where he is willing to discuss it, but not create a piece about it because it would be boring. This made me wonder if he truly felt that way or if he is simply apprehensive about creating something that would bring more attention to him than he would want; an Israeli commenting on domestic issues in the U.S. There are some choreographers that speak about both freedom and politics, such as Bill T. Jones, and his works are far less than boring (in my opinion). I guess I am trying to say is that I would like to see Naharin go to this level, especially incorporating his Gaga technique and having a different political perspective than an American.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it seems that passion is more important to him than ideas/statements, which is a great approach to movement, and somehow is more accessible to the public to investigate and explore, much like the technique. I am interested in seeing how much further he can go. I always wondered how the young dance community reacted to modern pioneers like Martha, so it is cool to see how our present young dance community is reacting to Nahadin and go on this journey with him to see how he develops.
By Jose
Hey Jose,
DeleteFrom my post I picked out a lot of quotes about him regarding politics but out of say maybe 20 articles I read, of the ones that asked him about the Israeli situation (maybe half), he immediately shut them down ("Those in Israeli know my views") or changed topic to his passion for dance rather than politics. In my opinion, I think that he likes avoiding the question and doesn't like discussing it. I think that Naharin feels that characteristics like love and passion trump war and pain. I think this theory also correlates with the fact that he had that awful back injury that made him create Gaga and somehow he is still this wildly famous choreographer/artistic director. In his view, his passion for dance beat the pain of injury.
Kym :)
I also find it very interesting that he had no interest in showing his own political views in his choreography. He had no urge to make a statement through his choreography. I'm sure part of this branched off from just not feeling like making certain political statements would do much for his work. I really enjoyed this quote, “There is a fine line between nationalistic feelings and pride. Pride can be a very dangerous thing. I care about loving to dance, not being proud to dance.” I think those last two sentences say it all about Ohad. It is very clear that all that he really cares about is his passion and love for dance. I agree that this is very refreshing to find someone like this, as we know, especially today, people's own political opinions and closed minds can get in the way of great opportunities.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Chelsea. When you attend a Batsheva concert, there is the element of surprise of what music they will be dancing to and the choreography of course but in a way there is a concrete stabilization that you know you aren't going to walk out of the concert pissed off at the world about some social situation. In a way you know what you're signing up for: (in my opinion) An excellently executed dance concert by an intelligent choreographer and articulate dancers.
DeleteIt's interesting to read that Ohad doesnt' want to be some sort of spokesperson for his native land. By the sounds of the information you have, it seems that he has been successful and that he has found a way to show his choreography as a Israeli native. But is there anything else about his connection with not only using Hebrew verses and music but does he plan on returning to Israel to dance or teach there? What are his takes on a dance community in Israel if there is a chance to find this information?
ReplyDeleteKao
Hey Kao!
DeleteTo answer your questions his company Batsheva Dance Company is actually based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Your question of what his take is on the dance community is in Israel actually sparked questions of my own that I decided to check up on. I found an article in the Sydney Morning Herald which spoke to some of these questions, and I hope they may answer a few of yours. First I want to say although he does not have the intentions of making political pieces there is still a political edge to them due to the environment he is in. Perhaps political is the wrong word to use and more controversial, and one of the only reasons why I would use political is because there are instances the Israeli government gets involved. For example in 1998 he took out "Anaphaza" from the show of the companies 50th anniversary because the president at the time Ezer Weizman asked them to sensor a section of the dance deemed inappropriate by the orthodox Jewish community in Israel. One could almost infer his reasons for not being overtly political is to avoid added obstacles; and because he has to already deal with politics without even dealing with them in his works. After all he is creating works in an environment where politics, culture, and religion are very strong. To my understanding it is not like making works in America where you have choreographers like Bill T. Jones always pushing the boundaries with an "in your face" approach. Part of this may also be due to the fact that dance is not something the masses view and the government may see it more as an annoying fly, but one they can tune out. People in American do not always pay attention to dancers. From my understanding there is a bit more attention on dance in Israel. Hope that helps you out a bit, I know I went on a couple different rants…
Tasha
Ps. Here is the article I found there is a little section on what I was talking about. If I find more stuff I will post it up too, but for now here is the link...
http://www.batsheva.co.il/images/user/file/The%20Sydney%20Morning%20Herald_OHAD.pdf