Yes, concentration camp. Yes, Abu Ghraib. Yes, disturbing. Choreography by Hofesh Shechter.

Dance
The most interesting guy out there, an Israeli-born dance maker who came out of Ohad Naharin’s shop at Batsheva Dance Company. His “Violet Kid” took Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet to another level. Read my review in the Los Angeles Times.

Ailey-ites embrace their inner meshuggenah in “Minus 16” 1

Dance
I’ve seen Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin’s “Minus 16,” in its various bits and pieces, components and rehashes, on Batsheva Dance Company (his home base), Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and most recently on a gang of Cal Arts dance students. But what a wild trip, tonight in Costa Mesa, watching Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater try ...

Ailey rep line-up for O.C. lacks work by female choreographer

Dance
On tap during the upcoming seven-performance roster of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Orange County: a juicy line-up of works by primarily American choreographers — we really like that and we include Ohad Naharin as an honorary American since his early career had a strong presence in New York. It’s spot-on that Robert Battle, ...

Anna Halprin, Bill T. Jones, Hofesh Shechter

Dance · Reviews
The big event of a busy fall season has been the historic reconstruction of Anna Halprin‘s “Parades & Changes,” an influential landmark of postmodern dance dating from 1965-67 featuring a soundscore by electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick. The piece builds on improvisation on a set of movement  “scores” — a Halprin key word that she ...

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet

Dance · Reviews
The golden light in which gifted choreographer Ohad Naharin bathes his all-female quintet in “Decadance” is Mediterranean. It brings to mind the color of the air when frenetic Tel Aviv calms itself in the withering heat of the afternoon sun. Visions of Israel inevitably surface while watching “Decadance” Naharin’s perennial greatest-hits collection of choreographic output ...

arts•meme to attend summer dancefest 3

Dance
Big news for arts•meme  . . . and an honor. I am joining one dozen dance writers from across the country as a fellow at the 2009 National Endowment for the Arts “Dance Journalism Institute” held at the American Dance Festival at Duke University. Starts 20 June. Over the course of the three-week in-residence program, I expect to view and write about ...

Ohad’s story 3

Dance
This photograph is from a dance work called Shalosh (Hebrew for “three”) by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin. I love the photo. I like the skinny, long-legged girls. I like the nervous tension, the skewed angles, and the extreme tilt of the head. Here is a choreographer who has found new ways of moving. He has reinvented the ...