RDT to Present NOA, An Evening Of Dance By World-Renowned Choreographer Noa Zuk

The nation's premier modern dance repertory company, Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), opens its 59th season with NOA on October 3-5, 2024, at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. This performance celebrates one of RDT’s most significant artistic collaborations of the past decade, featuring the innovative choreography of internationally acclaimed artist Noa Zuk. Audiences will be immersed in a world of rhythm, movement, and emotional storytelling, with three works featured: By The Snake, Outdoors (from Shutdown), and the Utah premiere of Gringo.

Noa Zuk is a renowned Israeli choreographer, dancer, teacher, and certified Gaga instructor. Born in Kibbutz Sh'ar Ha'amakim, she began dancing at age four, studying various dance forms and martial arts. Zuk performed globally for 12 years with Batsheva Dance Company under the direction of Ohad Naharin. Since leaving Batsheva over 15 years ago, Zuk has established herself as a choreographer, creating work for dance companies worldwide.

Zuk is a master teacher of Gaga, a movement language developed by Naharin. Gaga offers a physically challenging, multisensory experience that enhances flexibility, stamina, agility, coordination, and efficiency while fostering awareness, sensitivity, and generosity. Zuk’s long-time collaborator, Ohad Fishof, serves as musician and dramaturg for all the works presented in NOA. Together, they continue to push creative boundaries and have returned to Utah multiple times for workshops, restagings, and new productions.

Zuk is known for her powerful and unconventional approach to dance. She says, “My process of contemporary dance-making is very physical from beginning to end. I approach movement by way of sensation—attempting to awaken corporeal awareness throughout the moving body. I am always in search of dynamic clarity, marrying movement and sound together so tightly that nothing can come between them.”

RDT’s artistic relationship with Zuk and Fishof began in 2016 when they were commissioned to create By The Snake. The piece deconstructs the traditional roles and routines of couple dancing, inviting audiences to witness a fresh and thought-provoking exploration of social dynamics through choreography. This bold and reflective work challenges the notion of relationships both in dance and life.

In 2019, Zuk and Fishof returned to Utah to restage Outdoors, originally part of a larger work titled Shutdown. Zuk explains, “We took a rhythmic sentence and began to create movement. It’s like life. From the moment you are born, the clock is ticking. Life is so busy, but slowly we age, and things slow down until everything shuts down.”

This summer, Zuk returned to Utah for Dance West, a collaborative workshop hosted by RDT, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, and the University of Utah School of Dance. While coaching previous works, she restaged two sections from a piece originally created in Singapore in 2014 called An Old Woman Picking Up A Stone From The Ground And Carrying It Back To Her House.

The excerpts that RDT will perform, now called Gringo, are filled with humor and inventive movement. The work includes a duet and a group section, with Zuk again playing with rhythm, small gestures, and the connections between dancers.

This will be the first performance featuring RDT's new tiered pricing structure, designed to make shows more accessible to a broader audience. Tickets range from $15 to $45, giving audiences the option to support the company at a level that works best for them.

Don't miss this unforgettable evening of dance! Join us as we celebrate Noa Zuk’s artistic vision and her long-standing relationship with RDT, continuing to redefine the world of contemporary dance.

For more information, including ticket details and showtimes, please visit rdtutah.org.

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