by Jonathan Krebs, Programming Associate, The Joyce Theater

Ohad Naharin is an Israeli-born choreographer and the artistic director of Batsheva Dance Company. His works have been performed by Lyon Opera Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Nederlands Dans Theatre, Frankfurt Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Cedar Lake.

I first experienced Ohad Naharin’s movement in 2001 when I saw Hubbard Street Dance Chicago perform his stunning work Minus 16. Originally created for Nederlands Dans Theater II, (who I also had the pleasure of watching perform the work), Minus 16 is a striking journey through movement, music and emotion notable for its theatrical invention, audience interaction, visceral impact and unique movement vocabulary.

I again experienced Ohad Naharin’s movement when I saw his company, Batsheva, perform the evening-length piece Decadance which is a reconstruction of 10 previous works. Again I admired his unique vocabulary and theatrical ideas but was immediately struck by the power, physicality and individuality of the dancers.

I next came in contact with Ohad Naharin’s movement while dancing with the Portland, Oregon-based company BodyVox. While performing in Portland, Batsheva offered a movement workshop in Gaga, the training method developed by Naharin. BodyVox artistic directors Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland asked all of their dancers to attend the workshop because they felt Ohad was a unique and important voice in dance and wanted their performers to experience some of his methodology.

Expecting a technique class I came away from my first Gaga workshop confused by the initial experience of shaking on the floor and movement exploration exercises which I described to a friend as writhing on the ground with intent. I understood the concept of freeing the body and finding a source of power but missed the point completely and left feeling disappointed. That is until I saw Batsheva perform the next day and was bowled over by the beauty, originality and stark power of Ohad Naharin’s work Shalosh. A stark piece stripped of dramatic lighting, costumes and set; this was more than theatrical ingenuity and exceptional physicality, this was people dancing in a way I had never seen. The dancers weren’t doing dance steps, they were moving like people - in awkward, strange, what should be clumsy ways. But the beauty was in the awkwardness and in the fact that somehow it was still dance. I realized that these were all incredibly skilled, well trained dancers but their explosive power, individuality and joy in movement was the result of their training in Gaga and the unique freedom they found in it.

I often find that a choreographer’s voice is a difficult thing to discover and understand. I can immediately enjoy and be moved by a performance but it takes multiple viewings of a choreographer’s work for me to understand how they develop and communicate their ideas. I found this to be true with Ohad, whose work I loved instantly but am only now, after years of watching, beginning to understand. His work and ideas deliver a unique and moving portrait of humanity by exploring the infinite depths of individual experience while revealing that beneath all the markers of sex, race, religion and nationality we are almost indistinguishable from each other.

So it is with great excitement that I am attending my second Gaga workshop this weekend. I’m looking forward to approaching the class with a new set of expectations and experiences and I hope to touch a little of the magic that makes Batsheva’s dancers and work so unique and beautiful.

Saturday, March 1 at 3pm at The JCC in Manhattan. The free workshop is offered in conjunction with The Israel non-stop Arts Festival and The Batsheva Ensemble’s performances there this weekend.

For more information please visit: http://www.jccmanhattan.org/