Jacob's Pillow presents the U.S. premiere of choreographer Barak Marshall's full-length contemporary dance work, MONGER, in the Ted Shawn Theatre July 7-11. Ruth Eshel of Ha'aretz calls MONGER "A highly original work danced by ten virtuosic dancers. The power of the piece lies in its original movement language and theatricality...The result is unique, refreshing and powerful."
"When I saw MONGER, I felt it was perfect for the Pillow, and that American audiences should be introduced to Barak Marshall. The dancers are powerful and not only dance with great virtuosity, but they are also good actors. MONGER is by turns funny, ironic, and poignant, and tells a story with movement, music-and sometimes a little speaking-in a very human way. It is one of the most original productions I have seen in quite a while," comments Ella Baff, Jacob's Pillow Executive Director.
An athletic dance-theatre work for ten dancers, MONGER tells the story of a group of servants trapped in the house of an abusive mistress. Marshall's movement is physical, sharp, fast, contains ethnic-contemporary motifs, and is known for being highly emotive, visual, and theatrical. MONGER explores the dynamics of hierarchy, power, free will and the compromises one makes in order to survive. It fuses contemporary dance with humorous character narratives and inspired in part by
Jean Genet's The Maids and
Robert Altman's Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning film Gosford Park. The work is set to an eclectic score with music by Balkan Beat Box, Handel, Verdi, Margalit Oved (Marshall's mother), and National Public Radio's Yiddish Radio Project. The work has received plaudits all over the world; The Jerusalem Post stated, "This tongue-in-cheek wild dance is a beauty, bursting with energy and human passions. It employs a unique vocabulary that synergizes ethnic spirit with contemporary perceptions of the body".
According to Merav Yudelevitz at Ynet, MONGER is "an excellent, intelligent and humorous creation... MONGER resonates like a non-stop, groundbreaking and highly coherent speech...a raging marathon of the senses performed by a wonderful group of dancers."
Marshall is fast developing a following worldwide as one of Israel's most original choreographers. The son of acclaimed dancer, choreographer, and musician Margalit Oved, Barak Marshall became the first-ever resident choreographer of Batsheva Dance Company in 1999. According to Raphael de Gubernatis of Le Nouvel Observateur, "Barak Marshall proves that he is a true auteur, a fully-fledged choreographer, with a powerful style and a unique voice. His work is muscular, original, fevered, carried by excellent dancers, and by an internal force and intelligence that infuse it with an eloquence that is at times arresting."
Born and raised in Los Angeles and educated at Harvard, Marshall entered the dance world in 1995 when his work Aunt Leah, won first prize at the 1995 Shades of Dance Competition. His third work, Emma Goldman's Wedding, represented Israel in the 1998 Bagnolet International Competition where it won a slew of awards and his company has performed to rave reviews at the Berlin Festival, Hamburg's Sommertheatre Festival, Lyon's Biennale de la Danse, the RomaEuropa Festival, the Israel Festival, and Paris's Theatre de la Bastille.
In addition to his choreographic work, Marshall is a singer of Middle Eastern and rock music and has performed as a soloist with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project, the Yuval Ron Ensemble and the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. He currently divides his time between Tel Aviv and Los Angeles.
On Saturday, July 11, Barak Marshall will participate in a free PillowTalk titled 21st Century Renaissance Man. Moderated by a Pillow Scholar-in-Residence, the talk begins at 4pm in Blake's Barn and will explore Marshall's many artistic experiences and roles.
MONGER has been performed throughout Israel, Europe and Asia including performances in Spain, Switzerland China, Korea, Romania, France and Italy. Marshall's latest work, Rooster-a co-production of the Suzanne Dellal Centre and the Israeli Opera-premiered in November 2009 and is currently touring Israel and Europe.
For more information or to order tickets, visit online at jacobspillow.org or call 413.243.0745.
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