Batsheva's Young Ensemble And Melbourne-Based Nicola Gunn Come to Jacob's Pillow July 4-8

The Young Ensemble performs the Bessie Award-winning Naharin's Virus in the Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, July 4-8. The work showcases the "superhumanly spry" (The New York Times) abilities of the Israel-based contemporary dance company, a second branch of Batsheva Dance Company. Batsheva and The Young Ensemble have gained international recognition for their use of the innovative movement research Gaga, developed by Artistic Director Ohad Naharin. With Gaga as their primary tool, The Young Ensemble lets go of the constraints of their technical training and unleashes the "free, exhilarating range of their movement" (The Guardian).

"It is an absolute honor to welcome Ohad Naharin and Batsheva's Young Ensemble to the Pillow for an immersive week, particularly in Ohad's final months as Artistic Director. We invite audiences to see a performance, observe dancers in The School at Jacob's Pillow, attend a PillowTalk with Ohad, and to engage with the movement research of Gaga from the source. It's really a once in a lifetime opportunity," says Jacob's Pillow Director Pamela Tatge.

The Young Ensemble's performances coincide with the two-week Professional Advancement program, Gaga: The Movement Language of Ohad Naharin, offered by The School at Jacob's Pillow. The program is led by former Batsheva Dance Company member Bret Easterling, with additional involvement from Naharin himself. Naharin also participates in a PillowTalk on July 7 and hosts a Gaga/people workshop on July 8 that creates an accessible environment for individuals, regardless of experience, to tap into heightened bodily awareness.

Alongside The School and community programming, Naharin's Virus exemplifies the raw potential and power of Gaga. The salient work features 16 dancers as they interact with, loom above, and slam into confining set pieces. Performers engage in simultaneously viscous and vigorous movement. Sharp lines of the body surrender to vulnerable fluidity in the blink of an eye. Naharin cultivates an intense disquiet in this setting, reinforced even by the costumes-cream-colored, gloved bodysuits that cut abruptly into black tights.

Naharin's Virus is an adaptation of the play Offending the Audience by Austrian playwright Peter Handke. Excerpts from the play and Arab folk music accompany the inventive movement, culminating in an engrossing piece "as powerful as the eye of the storm" (The Jerusalem Post). It premiered in March of 2001 at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv, Batsheva's home theater, and won a Bessie Award in 2002.

Naharin's Gaga movement research has become increasingly influential in the last decade as a tool for individuals to connect with instinctive movement, linking the unconscious with the conscious. It is widely regarded as a rigorous and empowering language that shapes Naharin's inimitable choreographic voice, which has been described as "avant-garde...full of turbulent dynamics...a destabilizing form of art" (The New York Times). Naharin has been a seminal influence on some of the world's most prominent choreographers and companies.

ABOUT BATSHEVA - THE YOUNG ENSEMBLE

Batsheva Dance Company was established by Baroness Batsheva (Bethsabee) de Rothschild in 1964, with modern dance pioneer Martha Graham serving as its first Artistic Director. Ohad Naharin founded Batsheva - The Young Ensemble as a Second Company in 1990, the same year he was appointed Artistic Director.

Naharin built the company to nurture the creative processes of young dancers from Israel and beyond. Its framework comprises independent choreographic support, intense studio training, domestic and international touring, and a school outreach program. Dancers may stay in The Young Ensemble for up to three years, pushing them to make the most of their experience. The Batsheva senior company is composed almost entirely of Young Ensemble graduates.

Jacob's Pillow Connections

The Professional Advancement Program, Gaga: The Movement Language of Ohad Naharin, runs from June 28-July 5. The faculty includes Idan Porges, the Director of Batsheva - The Young Ensemble, and their Rehearsal Director, Michal Sayfan. Naharin, "one of the most important living choreographers" (The Guardian), participates in a PillowTalk on July 7 and leads a special Gaga/people workshop on July 8.

Batsheva Dance Company's founder, Bethsabee de Rothschild, visited the Pillow with Martha Graham in 1956 and was hosted by Ted Shawn.

Batsheva Dance Company made its first Pillow appearance in 1995 and returned in 2004. In 1995, the company performed Naharin's Mabul. In the the 2004 engagement, they performed Deca Dance, comprising nearly a dozen excerpts of Naharin's choreography. The program also featured the U.S. premiere of Israeli choreographer Sharon Eyal's Love. Naharin's Virus will be Batsheva - The Young Ensemble's Pillow debut.

This season, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will perform excerpts from their reimagining of Naharin's Deca Dance and Minus 16: Decadance/Chicago at the Ted Shawn Theatre, August 1-5.

Related video on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:

Batsheva Dance Company in Deca Dance in 2004: https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/batsheva-dance-company/deca-dance/

PERFORMANCE & TICKET DETAILS

Batsheva - The Young Ensemble

Ted Shawn Theatre, July 4-8

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8pm

Saturday & Sunday at 2pm

$78, $65, $45

A limited number of special Under 35 discounted tickets are available for each performance for patrons ages 18-35. Tickets are $35 in the Ted Shawn Theatre. One ticket per person; each guest must show valid I.D. when picking up tickets at Will Call.

This performance contains strobe lights, lasers, and audience interaction.

Tickets are on sale now; online at jacobspillow.org, via phone 413.243.0745, and at the Jacob's Pillow Box Office at 358 George Carter Road, Becket, MA, 01223.

ALSO THIS WEEK

Nicola Gunn
July 4-8, Wednesday-Saturday at 8:15pm; Saturday and Sunday at 2:15pm

Doris Duke Theatre

Melbourne-based performance artist Nicola Gunn combines text and choreography to create contemporary performance praised as "tantalizing, entertaining, ridiculous, and often bewildering in the best possible way" (Herald Sun). A confrontational reflection on peace and conflict, moral relativism, and the very function of art, Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster is inspired by an incident between a man, a woman, and a duck that touches upon the complex realms of human behavior. In her solo Pillow debut, Gunn slips across tempos, ideas, and performance modes-from theatre to dance to performance art and back again-challenging how we see art, the world, violence, and each other. Tickets start at $25.

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