{"id":20278,"date":"2012-07-03T03:58:25","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T10:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=20278"},"modified":"2013-11-25T01:32:26","modified_gmt":"2013-11-25T08:32:26","slug":"black-fairytale-israeli-premiere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=20278","title":{"rendered":"Black Fairytale Israeli Premiere"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Black Fairytale by Yossi Berg & Oded Graf\/Photo: Christopher Askman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNo one expects dancers to speak out,\u201d said Yossi Berg, \u201cand we do. We\u2019re not afraid to put ourselves out there.\u201d Choreographers Berg and Oded Graf have been collaborating since 2005, creating a body of work charged with high voltage symbolism and physicality, visceral, visual, intellectual, sensual and sheer fun. Their most recent work, Black Fairytale<\/em>, will hold its Israeli premiere at the Summerdance<\/a> festival at Suzanne Dellal on August 9, 2012. Berg and Graf shared their thoughts on the new work in an interview with Midnight East.<\/p>\n

Black Fairytale<\/em> explores \u201cthe darkest places, the unconscious levels of our soul, the places that are less known and understood, the more impulsive and primal,\u201d said Oded Graf, \u201ceach of us has a dark side, we are trying to reach that place in this work. We were inspired by fairytales,\u201d he added, \u201cbut had no intention of working in a literal mode creating a remake of Little Red Riding Hood<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this respect, Black Fairytale<\/em> is closely connected to Berg and Graf\u2019s previous works, relating to and commenting on contemporary reality through an imaginative, symbolic, and often surreal world created onstage. While each piece creates its own world, there is continuity in their process and approach. \u201cWe continue our tradition of being in the work as performers and working with artists from different fields and countries,\u201d said Yossi, \u201cthe work has a very international feel that is an integral part of the way we work and that we find intriguing. Here too, we are dealing with difference, as closely related to culture – where you come from, whether are a man or woman, what is your perspective on social issues –\u00a0 all these are expressed within the work in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make some explicit statements in Black Fairytale<\/em> about life and society,\u201d he added, \u201chow we are developing as a culture, where we\u2019re headed, what are our opinions, our dreams, and the extent to which our dreams make sense in the context of reality. We want to say something in this work that goes beyond the choreography and staging. We want to make a statement about what is happening in Israel, and also in relation to other parts of the world, the ways in which what we feel here is similar to what people feel there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Black Fairytale by Yossi Berg & Oded Graf\/Photo: Christopher Askman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both choreographers felt that their ability to take their ideas farther was enhanced through working with many of the same artists who participated in their most recent work Animal Lost<\/em>. Markus Pesonen composed original music for both works, and Mona Moller Schmid designed the costumes. Of the cast members, three have continued with Berg & Graf – Siri Wolthoorn, Soren Linding Urup, and Pierre Enaux; while two – Robert Logrell and Anne Nyboe are new.<\/p>\n

Some of the research involved looking into the fairy tale itself, reading fairy tales and reading about their structure and origins. Oded described the work as having, \u201cassociations, characters, feelings, situations and images from the world of fairy tale,\u201d adding, \u201cwe were very interested in working with the terms good and evil, and they ways in which people understand these terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fairy tales the situation can instantly shift from something that is almost utopian – then everything goes wrong and turns into a nightmare,\u201d said Oded, \u201cIt\u2019s something that fascinates me, in the reality of our lives, in my own personal reality. I relate it to my life here, life in Tel Aviv can be so utopian, I have everything I need in abundance and then I turn on the news and feel that I am immersed in a nightmare\u2026there is something very cyclical about it, utopia doesn\u2019t last long.\u201d<\/p>\n

The term \u201cfairy tale\u201d is often associated with bright colors and images of bliss, yet if one ventures beyond mass culture images to research the genre, the fairy tale emerges as a darker and far more intriguing entity. Yossi related that for many fairy tales \u201cThe version we know has been \u2018prettified,\u2019 the truth behind the fairytale, what really happens, is a disaster that no one wants to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I asked the choreographers whether Black Fairytale<\/em> has a \u201creal-life ending\u201d or a \u201chappy end,\u201d they responded: \u201cYou\u2019ll have to come and see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Come and see Black Fairytale<\/em> on August 9 & 10 at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv. Tickets may be ordered online<\/a>, or call: 03-5105656.
\n<\/object>
\nBlack Fairytale Choreography: Oded Graf & Yossi Berg
\nCreating Performers: Siri Wolthoorn, Soren Linding Urup, Pierre Enaux, Robert Logrell, Anne Nyboe, Oded Graf and Yossi Berg
\nDramaturgy: Hillel Kogan Artistic Consultant: Itai Shtern & Julia Giertz Costumes: Mona Moller Schmid
\nLighting Design: Antonio Rodriques-Andersen
\nMusic: Markus Pesonen, Angelo Badalamenti, Gerard Grisey, Danny Elfman, PJ Harvey, Maurice Ravel
\nCo-production: Yossi Berg & Oded Graf; Dansehallerne & Bora Bora Theaters in Denmark. With the support of the Danish Arts Council, Copenhagen Performing Arts Committee, the Wilhelm Hansen Foundation, the Augustinus Foundation,Israeli Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, the Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNo one expects dancers to speak out,\u201d said Yossi Berg, \u201cand we do. We\u2019re not afraid to put ourselves out there.\u201d Choreographers Berg and Oded Graf have been collaborating since 2005, creating a body of work charged with high voltage symbolism and physicality, visceral, visual, intellectual, sensual and sheer fun. Their most recent work, Black […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}