Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (KCDC) is an acclaimed dance company founded in 1970 by the Israel Prize laureate
Yehudit Arnon, who was its Artistic Director until 1996. In 1980, the
choreographer Rami Be'er joined the company and since then has been the Artistic Director and Choreographer. The company's home is located at the International Dance Village, in
Kibbutz Ga'aton
Ga'aton ( he, גַּעְתּוֹן) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Galilee, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. In it had a population of .
Etymology
The name Ga'aton is taken from the Ga'ato ...
in the Western
Galilee of northern Israel, and has become a center for performing arts and dance education for dancers and dance students from across the world. The Village is an institution for movement dance and
contemporary dance for all ages, and includes the company's Zichri Theater, a performing arts center, dance studios, accommodation for students and professional dancers. It regularly hosts tourists from Israel and abroad.
The company performs year-round in some of the leading theaters and festivals worldwide from the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia to Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center.
The International Dance Village is home to the company's internationally renowned dance programs including the annual Kibbutz Summer Intensive taking place each July and August and open to dancers and dance students of high school and university age. Throughout the year, the company hosts a pre-professional 5-month study abroad program known as the Dance Journey program for dancers and dance students ages 18 years and up.
The International Dance Village is the heart and home of the company and consists of a total of nearly 100 Israeli and international dance and dance students.
History
The company was originally named the Inter-Collective Dance Company. At the time, all of the its performers were members of the kibbutzim. Due to budgetary constraints and the company's commitment to creative independence, all of its productions were based on the choreography of Israeli artists. The group's performances were originally considered amateurish, both for their low production quality and the company's dependence on local artists. During the its early years, the company's performers included Yehudit Arnon, Ofra Achmann, Hada Oren and Oshra Elkaym-Ronen. Arnon and Achmann frequently performed
''Ausdruckstanz'', a form of expressive dance that remained popular in Israel until the mid-1950s.
In 1994, a second company joined the Kibbutz Company, called Kibbutzit 2, which mostly performs for young audiences, with performances such as ''Peter and the Wolf'', ''The Animal Carnival'', ''K-butzit 360'' and ''Sipurei Kodemkol''.
Some of the company's choreographers, including Shay Peartush, Etai Peri and Lotem Regev, participated in the Israeli TV show ''
Nolad Lirkod'' (Born to Dance). The choreographers Liat Dror and Nir Ben Gal, who married shortly after their Israeli military service, began their careers in the company.
Repertoire
See also
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Dance in Israel
Dance in Israel incorporates a wide variety of dance styles, from traditional Israeli folk dancing to ballet, modern dance, ballroom dancing and flamenco.
Contemporary dance in Israel has won international acclaim. Israeli choreographers, among t ...
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Culture of Israel
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Vertigo Dance Company
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
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Inbal Dance Theater
References
External links
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Article in Hebrew about the KDCDKDCD
on Hamaba website
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Dance companies in Israel