Moshe Efrati (

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 ...

: משה אפרתי) (26 – 1934 September 2020) was an Israeli choreographer and the founder and artistic director of the Kol Demama 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 ...

. His works have been performed in venues around the world.Dance with a Difference, Simon Griver, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1-1-1999

Dance career

Efrati was one of the first members of the

Batsheva Dance Company The Batsheva Dance Company (Hebrew: להקת בת שבע) is a renowned dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was founded by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild in 1964. Its inception was inspired by Israel's growing intere ...

. In 1975, he left Batsheva and established Kol Demama (The Sound of Silence) integrating ten dancers with

hearing impairment Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken l ...

together with ten dancers with normal hearing. Efrati cued the hearing impaired dancers by pounding a board on the floor or having a dancer stomp on the floor, creating a vibration that could be picked up by the dancers feet, similar to theories of an elephant hearing via vibrations perceived through its feet.

Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...

is said to have used this method to cue his dancers for

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

’s

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring''. Full name: ''The Rite of Spring: Pictures from Pagan Russia in Two Parts'' (french: Le Sacre du printemps: tableaux de la Russie païenne en deux parties) (french: Le Sacre du printemps, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral ...

, as the rhythms were too complex for Nijinsky’s dancers to follow. The dancers also get their cues from the vibration of bass notes in the music, eye contact, touch, movement of others, and lighting cues, all woven into the choreography. Kol Demama has a Tel Aviv school for dancers, teaching several hundred young dancers each year. Efrati intended Kol Demama to be judged on artistic grounds, "''I am neither a social worker nor therapist, I am a dance creator.''" Efrati blended strictly formal and classical ballet choreographic vocabulary with free-form contemporary dance. He drew inspiration from diverse influences ranging from

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...

's ''

The Metamorphosis ''Metamorphosis'' (german: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, ''Metamorphosis'' tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himsel ...

'' and

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

to the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

and the Jewish Poets of Muslim Spain. His dance was set to music ranging from traditional early Spanish rhythms to contemporary electronic music.Moshe Efrati: Current Creations
Efrati worked with the former

president of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...

Yitzhak Navon Yitzhak Rachamim Navon ( he, יצחק נבון; 9 April 1921 – 6 November 2015) was an Israeli politician, diplomat, playwright, and author. He served as the fifth President of Israel between 1978 and 1983 as a member of the centre-left ...

, setting his words to dance with music, for Israel’s 1982 celebration of the 25th anniversary of the retaking of Jerusalem.

Awards

In 1996, Efrati was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

, for stage arts - dance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Efrati, Moshe 1934 births 2020 deaths Israel Prize in dancing recipients Israeli choreographers Israeli male dancers

Dance career

Awards

See also

References