November 29th is a significant date for Israelis, the day when the UN General Assembly voted to adopt the partition plan for Palestine and end the British Mandate, intended to lead to the creation of two independent states, an Arab state and a Jewish state. Many years have gone by, and other than the British Mandate, many of the controversial issues of 1947 remain controversial in 2013. Yet the vote that took place that day determined the existence of the State of Israel, changing the course of history.
Renana Raz has curated an artistic event around this landmark date, three days of Israeli works focusing on the subject of “Israeli identity” that will take place from November 28 – 30, 2013 in Warehouse 2 of Jaffa Port.
We Have Been Called to Go a dance piece choreographed by Raz in 2002 for the Curtain Up Festival at Suzanne Dellal, will play a central role in this weekend of events. The piece makes use of Israeli/Zionists symbols – songs and the dance steps of folk songs, to explore the changes in Israeli identity and culture.
Dance, music, film and other events are on the weekend program. Neta Weiner, founding member of System Ali, theatre and spoken word performer, will entertain with original songs on the accordion in the foyer of Warehouse 2, where there will also be an exhibition: “Camera Hora,” of instagram photos relating to the subject of Israeli identity.
Identity is a burning issue for Israelis, and many of the best dance and theatre works focus on this subject. The November 29th weekend events are a great time to see these works:
Hillel Kogan’s We Love Arabs (Ohavim Aravim) takes the elephant in the enlightened parlors of the cultural left and dances with it – to great effect. Speaking in terms of choreography about the relationship of his body to the space, alluding in fairly transparent terms to the geo-political situation in Israel, Hillel created a dance that is also self-referential in terms of the dance world, the process of creating a piece and choreographer – dancer relationships.
In the midst of creating a new work, Hillel, in the role of the ‘choreographer’ pauses and shares his thoughts with the audience. Saying: “my body feels that there are areas that are not mine” – he realizes what is missing in his new piece: an Arab. Hillel auditions and rehearses a piece on “co-existence” with the token “Arab” he has found – dancer Adi Boutrous playing the ingénue with just the right look of askance – creating a work that reflects in text and movement the complexities and hypocrisies of the situation. A seriously funny work that touches every exposed nerve.
Hamarkid (The Dance Instructor) by Yoav Bartel and Abigail Rubin is an unforgettable dance experience, each performance inscribes a chapter in the adventures of Eytan Harari, the dance instructor. Harari is a gifted dancer and an average guy trying to make it in the fiercely competitive world of folk dance, never quite understanding why life doesn’t work out the way he would like it to, yet he never gives up.
Tickets are 120 NIS/180 NIS for two, to order call: 03-9021563. The full program for November 29th events may be found on the website. The event is part of the Creator/Curator program sponsored by the Bistritsky Foundation.
