Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

THK SOUTHERN fSRAEUTt "OclbVer'31, Page 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,/‘ NOWOPEN SUNDAYS ITALIAN RESTAURANT Regional Italian Cuisine carefully pre pared under the watchful eye of owner and host Perry. 1989 Cheshire Bridge 876-1380 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 Har ru Norman, realtors ^ Since 1930 At Your Serv ice. Promise. Brian Lawson Realtor Specializing in listing, markctingand selling residential property in Northeast and Northwest Atlanta. Office: 329-0188 Res.: 325-5588 yjjf mt. Compliments of FEDERAL SAVINGS & LOAN 2408 Mt Vernon Road Dunwoody, GA 30338 MEMBER FS 396-3966 CANDLE LIGHTING TIME TODAY 5:29 P.M. CHRISTINE C BROWN