Intimadance 2011 at Tmuna: The Fourth Wall

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Nava Zuckerman/Photo: Gadi Dagon

“We don’t have a dance festival just because we feel the need to have a festival,” said Nava Zuckerman, introducing the 2011 Intimadance Festival which will take place at Tmuna from June 30 – July 3, 2011. Tmuna has always been a place where nothing is taken for granted, where artists and audiences can experiment, ask questions without knowing the answers in advance, and take risks. I don’t necessarily like everything I see in Tmuna, but I am always interested.

Intimadance, now in its 12th edition, was created to give choreographers a chance to step away from their usual framework to explore and question their creative process. Each festival has a theme which offers a starting point for this exploration, which the creators can each take in any direction they choose. This year’s theme is “The Fourth Wall,” with Zuckerman and choreographer Irad Mazliah as artistic directors.

Michal Herman - TOP GUN/Photo: Gadi Dagon

Discussing the festival, Zuckerman said, “With each festival we embark on a journey, a series of questions. Art is a gigantic word; it tries to express many voices, opinions, sensations, everything that screams inside you. It tries to express them in many languages, and ultimately, to communicate them from one person to another…I view the audience as people, they are not ticket buyers. I care about the dialogue with the audience.”

“Dancers tend to fall into a pattern,” said Zuckerman, “Choreographers sometimes work from a need to survive, it was important for us to connect them to the fire burning inside.”

Hillel Kogan - The Rite of Spring/Photo: Gadi Dagon

A preview of several works today at Tmuna was tantalizing, thought-provoking and visually appealing. Gadi Dagon captured the action in all its intensity –his photographs of the day can be seen by following this link.

Twelve dance works will be presented by a diverse group of choreographers, both established and emerging: Sharon Weissvesser, Yuval Goldstein, Anat Katz & Erez Maayan, Michal Herman, Shir Medvetsky & Dina Ziv, Maayan Moses, Yifat Pel Barkai, Rina Shenfeld, Dafi Altabeb, Or Marin, Leo Lerus, and Hillel Kogan.

Rosalind Noctor and Olivia Court-Mesa in a work by Dafi Altbeb/Photo: Gadi Dagon

In addition there will be photographs, video, installation and performance works by: Ella Ben Aharon, Gadi Dagon, Lazaro Godoy, Noga Shatz, Efrat Rubin & Osnat Wald, Ella Rothschild, Roni Halban, and videodance created by 8th grade students at the Tel Aviv School of the Arts. Two guests performances will be: La by Nimrod Freid and Israel Breit; and Ship of Fools by Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor – both works recently premiered at the Israel Festival 2011.

Following the enticing preview, I caught up with Mazliah in the bar/performance space of Tmuna to talk about the process of putting together what promises to be an amazing line-up. Mazliah said that 110 choreographers responded to an open call. He spoke to each of them on the phone, beginning a five and a half month long process, in which he first narrowed the group down to 45, then ultimately to the artists currently presenting.

Leo Lerus - PTP/Photo: Gadi Dagon

In talking to the choreographers, Mazliah began with a simple question: Who creates dance? Asking the choreographers who are the choreographers they think of, when they think of dance and what it means to them. “At first there was no theme this year,” said Mazliah, “I asked them to pick one work from a choreographer who inspires them and copy five minutes of that work, and take it from there.” The word “copy” in relation to dance soon led to an animated conversation comparing the state of dance today, and its emphasis on innovation, with other contemporary arts such as music, where covers and sampling are an accepted part of the field – definitely a conversation to be continued at length and in depth.

Yuval Goldstein - Munir/Photo: Gadi Dagon

Intimadance will take place over the course of the weekend, with two different programs; one will be performed in the amphitheatre and the other in the performance hall formerly known as the parking area, with video/installations/performance art in the foyer.

Performances will take place:
Thursday, June 30, 2011. Program Aleph at 19:00, followed by Program Bet at 21:00. Thursday is White Night Tel Aviv, and at 23:00 Future Shock Live – a free indie music concert & party with Umlala, Lorena B, 2013 and Phototaxis.
Friday, July 1, 2011. Program Bet at 14:00, Ship of Fools at 20:30, Program Aleph at 21:00.
Saturday, July 2, 2011. La at 18:00, Program Aleph at 20:00.
Sunday, July 3, 2011. Program Bet at 20:00.

Tickets are 65 NIS, 100 NIS for two programs. To order call: 03-5611211

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