“Sorrow and beauty” forms a bittersweet promise augured in Batsheva Dance Company‘s upcoming performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, February 14-16, in which a challenging-looking full-evening work dating to 2022 by choreographer Ohad Naharin, MOMO, will have its North American premiere. It is the first time the groundbreaking and influential national dance company of Israel will perform at the Music Center. As the vibrant troupe celebrates its sixtieth anniversary (it was founded in 1964), it is a particular honor for Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center, for whom Batsheva is a favorite.
Ms. Moore shared in an email what drew her to bring this company to Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center. “I have always admired the work of Ohad Naharin,” says Moore. “I believe he is a unique and brilliant artist. I feel strongly that the people in L.A. should have the opportunity to see his work and his Company and gain a better understanding of how Gaga, the dance technique that was developed by Naharin, has impacted the American dance scene.
“The piece itself is truly extraordinary,” she continued. “It is described as having ‘“’two souls.’ The dancers are divided into two groups. One group is comprised of four shirtless men who dance together; the other is a group of seven dancers. It’s almost as if two different dance works are being performed simultaneously. Given the divisiveness that exists in our current world, the notion of two groups co-existing, yet in their own worlds, seems apropos.”
The quartet, describes the Jerusalem Post, “moves slowly and smoothly, anchoring the downbeat of the music, while the larger group works with the accelerated beat. Though it requires the audience to split focus, the dissonance is hypnotizing.”
Naharin himself indicates of the bifurcated work, “One sends long roots to the depths of the earth—a soul that embodies archetypes and myths of hardened, raw masculinity, and the other is in a constant search for an individual and distinct DNA; one moves within its own autonomous and independent force field, and the other is a constellation of elements that spin around the same nucleus—alternately drifting away and towards it, making room for necessary tenderness and catharsis.”
That’s deep. The Chandler performances are the first stop in a touring roster that winds up at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in March. See it here instead!
Batsheva Dance Company | Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center | Feb 14 – 16