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For ticket
information, call
the Gala office
875-7881
Orders received after Nov. 4 must
be picked up at AJCC Peachtree
• START CELEBRATING at 8:30 p.m.
at The Depot
• DANCE to The Modernaires"
• ENJOY our dessert buffet until midnight
• REFRESH yourself at our donation bars
• The GALA IV REVUE will be performed
several times throughout the evening
ALL ABOARD
GALA IV
NOVEMBER 15
AT THE DEPOT
Jm. i ii rindti JW
ALL ABOARD
The Atlanta Jewish Community Center
'30.00 per person
To Benefit the Atlanta Jewish Community Center
Arts & Entertainment
Dancer Ohad Naharin to perform in Atlanta
by Carolyn Gold
Accomplishing the unexpected
has become an Israeli trademark.
So perhaps it is not surprising
that one of the most promising
and exciting young performers
and choreographers in American
contemporary dance is an Israeli
export. What is startling is that
this native of Afula, Israel, is
male, was born on a kibbutz,
served three years in the Israeli
army and never had any formal
dance training until age 22.
After only four weeks of classes
with the Batsheva Company in
Israel, Ohad Naharin was disco
vered by Martha Graham who
described him as a “natural”
dancer. She invited Naharin to
come to New York in 1975 and
study with her company.
Tall, well-built, with striking
good looks, Ohad Naharin had
worked in gymnastics and per
formed as a singer. He still sings,
plays guitar and writes his own
music. In one dance solo he sings
his accompaniment.
In addition to dancing as a
soloist with the Graham com
pany, Naharin has studied at the
Juilliard School and the School
of American Ballet. He toured
Europe, the Soviet Union and
Japan with the Brussels-based
Bejart’s Ballet of the 20th Cen
tury, and still performs with
Israel’s Bat Dor. He now works
mainly in New York, though he
tours this country, and in August
the Asia Society sponsored a
two-week tour of China for his
company.
Soon Atlanta will get to wit
ness the physical dexterity, flexi
bility and strength emphasized in
Ohad Naharin’s choreography as
well as the flawlessness of his
technique. On Nov. 13, 14 and
15, performances will be pres
ented at 8 p.m. at the Dancer’s
Collective Theatre, 1105 Euclid
Avenue.
The Atlanta program will fea
ture solos and duets. His partner
for these performances is his
wife, Mari Kajiwara, a leading
dancer from the Alvin Ailey
Dance Company. Ms. Kajiwara
is a graduate of the High School
of Performing Arts in New York
and in addition to performing
with a number of dance compan
ies, has staged Ailey’s works as
his assistant both here and a-
broad.
Attitude, the Dancers’ Month
ly, says, “Besides possessing ex
traordinary skills as a dancer,
Ohad Naharin’s choreography
touches the soul, challenges vis-
adept at capturing the complexi
ties of the male-female relation
ship.” The dance “Sixty A Min
ute” on the Atlanta program
clearly has domination as its cen
tral theme, but in a good-natured,
playful manner. Perhaps it asks,
“Is victory worth it?” The open
ing Atlanta number,“Rain, Mon
soon,” features fluid embraces
that seem to paint liquid designs
in space as the pair of dancers
circle, couple, fall and catch one
another.
Prior to a performance at the
University of Rochester, Ohad
Naharinsaid,“l would think that
my work is accessible to people
who have never before seen
dance.
“One of the things 1 try to do is
communicate. Not a story, but
an opinion or idea. People who
see my work will see relation
ships and humor and power
games—the dynamics of people
interacting—and create their own
story.”
At Clemson College, Naharin
demonstrated warm-up techniques
Ohad Naharin in “Pas de Pepsi.
ually and excites the senses.” The
New York Times describes his
shifts of emotion and dynamics
by saying, “There is a sense of
craft and intelligence to all the
work...”
The Atlanta program will con
tain his most popular dance, “Pas
De Pepsi” (perhaps in this city it
should be renamed “Pas De Coke).”
The piece grew out of his wife’s
love of soda and in it Naharin
uses as props a string of plastic,
liter pop bottles and a super
market shopping cart. After over
dosing on bottle after bottle of
Pepsi, Naharin makes the cart
his partner as he climbs into it,
propels himself about lying on
the bottom rack, and transforms
i,/‘
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to tennis and soccer teams before
his scheduled dance performance.
Lessons from this intensely ath
letic and gymnastic dancer were
welcomed and represented more
of his unexpected achievements:
that he is able to interest even the
six-pack, Monday night football
crowd in his art.
Audiences are amazed at the
incredible height of Naharin’s
jumps and leaps; yet the artist is
wary of such applause-getting
feats. He says he rejects any
move if it doesn’t convey his pre
cise message.
With dancing described as
“sensuous, amazingly supple and
of an unusual purely physical
eloquence,” Ohad Naharin is
bringing new strength, spirit and
powerful intentions to contem
porary dance—and to Atlanta
on Nov. 13-15.
Tickets can be obtained by call
ing the Dancer’s Collective, 659-
8958. In addition to performan
ces, Naharin will teach master
classes the week of Nov. 10.
it into a jail or cage. The dance
mixes the comic with a light
social statement about one of our
American “institutions.”
Excerpts from Naharin’s “In
nostress” will be performed also
by its creator and Ms. Kajiwara.
This work resulted in Ohad Na
harin being named “Choreographer
of the Year” in Israel. The 1983
dance shows the repercussions or
horrible lessons of war in all its
madness. Physically the dance
uses the push and pull of gravity
with falls and rolls, dancers
hurling themselves toward the
ground and then contracting to
rise.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
describes Naharin as “unusually
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CHRISTINE C BROWN
