6-Week Festival to Expose Israeli Dance
A six-week festival bringing together several theaters and three universities will bring some of Israel’s top choreographers, dancers and performance artists to Atlanta.
Exposed, a festival of contemporary dance and physical theater, opens Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. with a free performance by two solo Israeli artists, Ella Ben-Aharon and Ido Tadmor, at the CORE Studios on Decatur Square. It closes with three Emory Dance Company performances of works it commissioned from Yossi Berg and Oded Graf and from Anat Grigorio at Emory’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on Nov. 17, 18 and 19.
Members of the Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor Dance Projects perform “Cowboy,” which will have its U.S. premiere Nov. 3 at 7 Stages Theatre as part of the Exposed festival.
“We are thrilled to bring this amazing group of choreographers, dancers and performance artists from Israel to Atlanta,” said Sue Schroeder, the artistic director of CORE, which is organizing and serving as one home of the festival. Also part of the collaboration are 7 Stages Theatre, the Emory dance program, Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Arts and Kennesaw State University.
The festival includes workshops and classes in addition to public shows.
“Ever since I saw their work in Israel, I’ve wanted to showcase them to Atlanta audiences and facilitate collaborations with our local arts community,” Schroeder said. “The scope of the festival will reveal the richness, creativity, imagination and strength of contemporary dance and physical theater now taking place in Israel.”
Exposed will offer three U.S. premieres, two regional premieres and one Atlanta premiere. Two of the shows will be collaborations between Israelis and Atlantans: a CORE Performance Company show with the Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor Dance Projects and a Kennesaw State theater department effort with Ofir Nahari and Michael Haverty. Kennesaw State also has commissioned a piece by Ben-Aharon.
Other Israeli artists scheduled to participate are Hillel Kogan, Ofir Nahari and Vertigo Dance Company.
Festival coordinator Mira Hirsch said the length of the festival and the venues in Atlanta, Decatur and Kennesaw should make performances convenient across the metro area.
“I am delighted that Atlantans will have the opportunity to see examples of the thriving contemporary dance and physical theater being created and performed in Israel,” said Ambassador Judith Varnai Shorer, Israel’s consul general to the Southeast. “Art is a universal language that connects people through shared experiences and fosters understanding. I hope Exposed will continue the strong partnership between Atlanta and Israel’s arts communities and arts supporters.”
The complete schedule is at www.exposedfestivalatl.com.
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