Six Years Later
Choreography By Roy Assaf
Dancers: Hadar Yonger-Harel, Roy Assaf
One thing I learned, while working with Roy Assaf, was his amazing ability to collaborate. He collaborates the music, the words and the choreography like they were born together. After you hear it once, you can’t hear it otherwise. It fit like a glove! Assaf’s capability to combine the three create a unique situation with the audience that, I never felt before. In Assaf’s concerts the audience mind is fully involved. One cannot sit there and be a passive audience. If you want or not, your mind and body are intrigued by it and you are mentally on the stage as if you were one of the dancers. So, you can imagine how was it for me photographing his work during rehearsals and during the concert. In this special intimate work, I was close as a few feet from them. I could hear them breathing, I could hear their heart bit, I could feel their sweat. It felt intense in a very good way. You are probably wondering what kind of music he chooses?! Well, I will just put it hear and let your mind imagine, while looking at the images.
Music Moonlight sonata (Ludwig Van Beethoven, Piano – Wilhelm Kempff),
Dove sei amato bene (George Frideric Handel, Mazzo soprano – Myrlin Horn),
Reflections of My Life (Marmalade)
ALIZA
Choreography By Ravid Abarbanel
Dancers : Tomer Giat , Ravid Abarbanel
During summer 2017 Ravid invited me to be with them during the first rehearsals. For a while I had the idea of documenting her creative work, so when she told me she start a new work I came prepared. Over a few months I was “dancing” with my camera and documenting Ravid’s choreography. After the second time I knew I have exciting material for a gallery show and I started to work with an art Curator to guide me towards a special exhibition. The project is still in process and the work is endless. I believe it will be a very exciting gallery show. I promises to keep you updated.
“A couple on a journey, deals with the challenges and fragments of thought and memory. Two characters who live in a world that is not necessarily physical, part of which exists only in their minds. They want to help one another, to bolster one another, to succeed together- however, their journey together is wrought with solitude. Suddenly it is unclear where they are going and why. Good intentions are engulfed by vast confusion.” (www.ravidabarbanel.com) On September 2017 ALIZA was premiered at Gvanim, the “Shades dance” festival in Suzanne Dellal, Tel Aviv – Israel.
Ayala Frenkel Choreography
2HER, at Kelim Choreography Center
Choreography by Ayala Frenkel and Performance by Ayala Frenkel and Noa Shavit. “Two women are standing side by side/ one in front of each other. Together, they create a space where violence and softness can exist together. Revealing different faces of femininity. The piece aims to break the linear way of expression, and to give space to the alternative, feminine way.”
I was invited to a special Feminine Artists Night. A collaboration of very talented women. A writer, a photographer, a dancer, a musician, all were invited to celebrate Femininity and Creativity. The vibes were high and inspiring through the whole evening. But magic began when Ayala Frenkel and Noa Shavit entered the stage. The relationship of those two talented dancers on stage was gripping. They captured me with their stormy and gentle movement that came with strong emotions. It was a strong choreography of how we relate to women and how we see women in a perfect world, that we, women, can do it all and be whoever we want, without giving up, or choosing one over the other. While photographing those wonderful dancers I found myself on a roller-coaster of emotions. Thus, you will find the images presented in color and in black and white, almost paralleling the stormy and the gentle moments.
Roy Assaf Choreography
II Acts for the Blind for L.A. Dance Project, at Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater.
A new and fresh version of Roy Assaf’s creation from 2014 originally created for LADP. I had a wonderful time photographing the ingenious process. Definitely an outstanding dance concert, out of the box creativity. Powerful words, moving moments, rhyme, rhythm and grace. Loved it! In this album, you will find images, that shows the process of this wonderful creation and images from the final run. Performance by: Olivia Court Mesa, Madison Hoke, Anat Oz, Sergio Diaz, Joel Bray, Avshalom Latucha, Kelvin Vu.
Ravid Abarbanel Choreography
“Crumbling Underneath”, at Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater
Choreography & Performance by Ravid Abarbanel – “Every person that we have imprinted upon will carry a fragment of us, even after they are long gone”. The way Ravid imprints her movements, her dance, I imprint the images with my camera. A memory to last for generations. Crumbling Falling Apart is a quest for life after the loss of physical structure and the discovery of alternative paths of existence. Nature propagates continuity through time and time erodes all. Does a person whose body has dissolved no longer exist? We continue to be if only a bit differently. Every person that we have imprinted upon will carry a fragment of us, even after they are long gone. Underneath – is a battle between two presences, human and abstract, which exist within one person. In the beginning, it appears that the connection between these two beings are meant to strengthen, direct and meet the needs of the human presence. Eventually, the balance is offset”.
It was an emotional photo-shoot. As a dancer in the past and a photographer in the present, Ravid’s dance awaken and strengthen so many qualities and good intuition that long forgotten and I thank her for that. I was very joyful to see it all in her alive and kicking!
Roni Chadash Choreography & Performance
“Goofy“, at Kelim Choreography Center.
Choreography & Performance by Roni Chadash – “To the woman he said. and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Genesis 3:16 “A pointless attempt of understanding when I lost my innocence and how my amorphous body transformed into the known and common creature called a woman.” Roni brings to the stage the knowledge of understanding the loss of innocence of childhood, and the change we all go through. Not an easy task. I crawled on the floor with my camera, while she was dancing, I was imitating her movements, feelings, strength and capturing, frame by frame, her battle of feelings and emotions. Not an easy task as well.
Roni’s choreography challenge me, as a photographer to find the perfect viewpoint. It definitely extend my body limits. I salute her unlimited boundaries.
