The Batsheva Dance Company (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: להקת בת שבע) is a renowned dance company based in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. It was founded by

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She ...

and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild in 1964. Its inception was inspired by Israel's growing interest in American modern dance, mainly

and

Anna Sokolow Anna Sokolow (February 9, 1910, Hartford, Connecticut – March 29, 2000, Manhattan, New York City) was an American dancer and choreographer known for the social justice focus and theatricality of her work, and for her support of the developm ...

. Classes in Graham technique were offered at the time, some taught by Rina Schenfeld and Rena Gluck, who were the company's principal dancers for many years. Bethsabee de Rothschild withdrew her funding in 1975, and the company gradually shed the Graham aesthetic that had dominated its early years. During this transitional period, the company began including the works of emerging Israeli choreographers into its repertory. Soon after

Ohad Naharin Ohad () was the third son of Simeon; he is mentioned in Genesis 46:10. Ohad may also refer to: __NOTOC__ People Surname * Daniella Ohad, American design historian Given name * Ohad Benchetrit, Canadian musician * Ohad Cohen, goalkeeper for Hapo ...

was appointed artistic director in 1990, he founded the youth company Batsheva Ensemble, for dancers from 18 and 24. Its graduates include choreographers

Hofesh Shechter Hofesh Shechter (born 3 May 1975) is an Israeli choreographer, dancer and composer based in London. He is best known for being the founder and artistic director of the Hofesh Shechter Company. Shechter was nominated for the Tony Award for Best ...

and

Itzik Galili Itzik Galili (born 1961 in Tel Aviv) is an Israeli choreographer. Career After having been a member of the Bat Sheva Dance Company and Bat Dor Dance Company in his country, he moved to the Netherlands in 1991, where he founded his own compan ...

. The ensemble toured the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and performed at the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

in 2012. Naharin also developed a movement language known as

Gaga (dance vocabulary) Gaga is a movement language and pedagogy developed by Batsheva Dance Company director and teacher Ohad Naharin. Used in some Israeli contemporary dance, it has two educational tracks which are taught in Israel as well as several other countries: *G ...

. This has become the movement language that Batsheva Dance Company trains in under the Gaga/Dancers track, which is geared towards professional dancers and specifically the dancers of Batsheva. There is also a track called Gaga/People, which is geared towards anyone and requires no dance experience. This movement language has been so influential in the modern dance world that, in 2015, a documentary entitled ''Mr. Gaga'' was created by

Tomer Heymann Tomer Heymann (born October 12, 1970 in Kfar Yedidia, Israel) is an Israeli filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the documentary films ''Paper Dolls'', ''Mr.Gaga'' and '' Who's Gonna Love Me Now?''. Career Heymann has directed many doc ...

. This documentary explores the ways in which Gaga, as a movement language, has shaped both Batsheva Dance Company and modern dance as a whole and the influence Naharin and his movement have had on the dance world.

History

Early years (1964–1974)

Baroness Bethsabee de Rothschild, a patron of Martha Graham, wanted to create a foundation for Modern Dance in Israel, where she resided. Thus, she brought

to Israel to aid in the development of performing arts there. On 24 December 1964, the company was officially founded. Graham remained active as Artistic Advisor in the formative years of the company, with the financial backing of the Baroness. The dancers trained in Graham technique and were the first outside the Graham company to perform her work. Martha Graham brought seven pieces to Batsheva, in addition to choreographing a piece exclusively for the company. Many critics, however, said the performance of these Graham works by Batsheva dancers had a very different energy and quality than the Graham dancers in America. The Israeli culture allowed for a different embodiment of the choreography and many responded well to it, even though some critics made mention of "faulty technique". But this well received new energy and youthfulness of the Batsheva dancers outweighed their lack of proper technique, and the women in the company were the first to have the opportunity to perform roles that Graham had created for herself; this did not go over very well with Graham's American dancers. This created quite a tift, and competition between the Graham dancers in New York and the Batsheva dancers in Israel. Expression through movement was something that Graham looked for in auditions, rather than technical capability, which led to a range of facilities, but a cohesive ability to be expressive. Another fundamental principle implemented by Graham on the Batsheva dancers – which was different from traditional ballet – was the opportunity for collaboration between choreographer and dancer, and the opportunity for improvisation within set material. These fundamentals still remain present in present Batsheva works. Due to the company's close relationship with Martha Graham, many other well-renowned choreographers set work on Batsheva, such as Jose Limon,

Glen Tetley Glen Tetley (February 3, 1926 – January 26, 2007) was an American ballet and modern dancer as well as a choreographer who mixed ballet and modern dance to create a new way of looking at dance, and is best known for his piece ''Pierrot Lunaire ...

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

, and others. In 1974 Baroness de Rothschild appointed Jeannette Ordman as artistic director. The company, however was unhappy with her decision. According to company members, Ordman's leadership style was problematic and they voiced their complaints to Graham, and Rothschild withdrew financial support from the company. She subsequently ended the company's relationship with Graham, which in turn meant they were unable to continue performing her work. Rothschild put her financial support into a new Modern dance company, Bat-Dor Dance Company, with Ordman as Artistic Director.

1975–1990

Without the financial support of Rothschild, the company could no longer afford to outsource foreign choreographers. Thus began an era of Israeli artistic directors and choreographers. According to many critics, the company maintained their strength technically and performatively, but were lacking any choreographic innovation.

1990–2018

In 1990,

was appointed artistic director of the company. One of the first things Naharin did as director was request higher pay for the dancers and make their workdays much longer. Naharin had been studying with Graham in New York and had previously presented choreographic works in New York as well as in Tel Aviv. In this new decade of Batsheva, Naharin built a younger audience by bringing in newer choreographers from around the world, but also many from Israel. Along with the refreshed choreography, Naharin developed his own movement language, "Gaga". This new movement boomed and has become well known worldwide, making Batsheva the leader of the Gaga style and renowned internationally.

References

External links