Rina Schenfeld ( he, רנה שיינפלד) (born 1938) is an Israeli choreographer and dancer. As prima ballerina and choreographer of the Batsheva dance company, she was described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "one of the most important artists of our generation."

Biography

Born 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 ...

in 1938, Schenfeld began studying classical ballet at the age of 12. After seeing a performance by world-famous dancer

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 wa ...

, she switched to

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

. She studied dance at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in New York. She danced in Israel with the Lyric Theater of

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 ...

, and in the United States, where she worked with Graham and other leading choreographers. In 1964, Graham and Baroness Batsheva De Rothschild founded Batsheva, and chose Schenfeld as prima ballerina and choreographer. Schenfeld led the corps to worldwide fame, with works by renowned international choreographers as well as her own creations. In 1978 Schenfeld left Batsheva to found the Rina Schenfeld Dance Theater. She taught a generation of Israeli dancers, and created an eclectic style that incorporated elements of dance theater, Bauhaus, modern and classical."Rina Schenfeld" i
''Dance Life''
, 2011 One original element in her choreography is the use of physical objects in the dance. "Her use of objects guides the imagination to places beyond the dance," writes a reviewer in ''Dance Life''. "The objects lead to a unique experience and deepen the sense of motion."

Key works

* ''La Sylphide'' (2011), a multimedia work that integrates video, poetry and electronic music with the dance. * ''Dance to the end of love'' (2008), Schenfeld's first multimedia work, including also videoart and singing. * ''Silk threads'' (1983), to music by Menachem Tsur and

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

. Dancers incorporate streams of cloth, branches, and an aquarium. * ''Cans and hair, sticks and balloons'' (1980). The dancer appears with a large tin on her head, and beats time on the tin as she dances.

Awards

*In 2003 she was awarded

The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

in the category of Culture and Art, for the field of Dance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schenfeld, Rina Israeli ballerinas Israeli choreographers Israeli women choreographers Israeli Jews 1938 births Living people Juilliard School alumni EMET Prize recipients in Culture and Art

Biography

Key works

Awards

See also

References