Renowned LA And Israeli Dancer/Choreographer To Join SUNDAY MORNING WITH THE BRAID For Zoom Special

Raised in Israel, Danielle Agami choreographs movements that seem, well, impossible. The founder and artistic director of the renowned Los Angeles-based Ate9 modern dance company, Agami will join moderator and award-winning author Lisa Rosenbaum for an intimate conversation about her vision on Sunday, December 12, 10:00am PT/1:00pm ET.

The live-on-Zoom event, entitled Gorgeously Stretching the Limits of Dance, is just the latest installment in the popular Sunday Morning with The Braid series.

Agami will share stories with the Zoom audience of her life as a dancer, and talk about how her Jewish background has shaped her and her choreography. The program will also feature the company's performance on video and a Q&A.

This event is free to attend, but The Braid hopes attendees will consider purchasing a virtual ticket from its website. For the link to register, visit: the-braid.org/sunday

Since starting her company, Ate9, in 2013, Agami, named Dance Magazine's "Top 25 to Watch in 2015," continues to develop her own unique technique. Her company performs regularly in Los Angeles and has achieved global recognition. She describes her style as "an experience of pleasure and discomfort that subtly asks the question - What are we missing out on when our experience is never allowed to linger?" Recent projects have included collaborations with Wilco percussionist Glenn Kotche, actor Jon Hamm, and Spanish singer/songwriter Russian Red. This fall she was invited by the English National Opera to choreograph a Philip Glass opera at the Coliseum in London.

Before moving to New York to head Gaga USA, Agami was a longtime member and master teacher with Ohad Naharin's Batsheva Dance Company in Israel, and served as rehearsal director and artistic director of Batsheva Dancers Create. She is a master teacher of Gaga, the term coined for a movement language that uses verbal cues to free the body. Unblocked, the body becomes a vessel for the highly distinctive movements that its dancers master. With supreme confidence they spiral and roll, push and parry, crawl and fall, twist and vibrate in utterly unpredictable and improbable ways. Agami has staged Naharin's work for the Alvin Ailey Company, Ballet Atlanta, Ita Dansa/Barcelona, the Juilliard School, and others.

Moderator Lisa Rosenbaum says, "There is a long line of innovative Jewish choreographers in the American dance world, including Anna Sokolow, Jerome Robbins, Bella Lewitsky, Anna Halprin, Meredith Monk, and Eliot Feld. Much of their work is infused, subtly or overtly, with their sensibility about the Jewish experience. Danielle Agami's work also shows a deep connection to her modern dance and Jewish roots that will be interesting to explore."

Rosenbaum herself comes from a dance background. Her mother was a student of Irma Duncan, Isadora Duncan's foster daughter, and was a longtime modern dance teacher. Rosenbaum grew up studying modern dance and choreographed dances as well. "I have always seen dance as a discipline, but it is also play and discovery of what the human body is capable of," she says. "I am so interested in hearing more about what Agami means when she says that Gaga changed the way she felt about her body as a tool for dialogue with herself and the outside world."

Ronda Spinak, The Braid's artistic director adds, "As a Jewish culture organization, we are honored to introduce Danielle Agami to our audience. I'm excited to learn about her journey from Israel to America and everything she has accomplished along the way!"

The Braid is the 2020 winner of The Argonaut's Best of the Westside's "Best Live Theatre Award" and won The Santa Monica Daily Press award for "Most Loved" performance. Last year, it was also an audience-recommended winner in The Argonaut. The Braid presents inspiring Jewish stories, art, and other programming that highlight Jewish contributions to contemporary life. Now in its 14th season, The Braid's salon theatre of original dramatic shows, each written to a specific theme, displays the diverse and eclectic community of writers, artists, and creators who celebrate Jewish life, one story at a time.

For virtual tickets to Gorgeously Stretching the Limits of Dance, visit: the-braid.org/sunday.

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