SA artistic director revels in Israeli dance

ROBYN SASSEN

Contemporary dance in Israel is booming. It boasts the business’s unequivocal best, in the form of companies such as Batsheva Dance, which was founded by the great Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild in 1964. Israel is also the home of fantastic young choreographers such as Rachel Erdos, who visited South Africa in 2015 to choreograph a new piece.

Dance connections between Israel and South Africa are not new. South African dancers/choreographers such as Dada Masilo and Sunnyboy Motau have made significant inroads into Israeli dance. Indeed, Lynore Blum, a significant voice in Israeli dance, who hosted Hawkins, is an ex-South African – she was born in Brakpan.

When Hawkins received the invitation to attend International Exposure, Tel Aviv’s annual choreography showcase, the question of whether to accept was a no-brainer for him.

The festival, which takes place at the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre in Tel Aviv, is supported by Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs and ministry of culture and sport. For a South African to be in the audience for his dance savvy, his critical eye and his ability to invite Israeli dancers to South Africa, is a feather in the cap of contemporary South African dance.

MIDM was founded by Sylvia Glasser in 1978, at a time when it was illegal for black and white dancers to perform on the same stage. Glasser, who studied ethnomusicology in the US and social anthropology under anti-apartheid activist David Webster in South Africa, launched this project from her home in Victory Park. It flew in the face of everything regimented by apartheid values, but it took hold.

Today it remains the biggest, the oldest and arguably the most important contemporary dance company in the country, having offered training to many contemporary dancers in the field, including such shining lights as Robyn Orlin, Sonia Radebe, Vincent Mantsoe and Gregory Maqoma.

Glasser immigrated to Australia at the end of 2015.

Hawkins’ credentials are also impressive. He has more than 30 years’ dance experience and training in diverse ballet techniques, including in Vaganova, the Royal Academy of Dance and Cecchetti – and is not afraid to be outspoken in his critical opinions.

Regarding the dance programme he saw at the International Exposure Festival, Hawkins said that, while he pondered the value of work so motivated by political values that the skill and aesthetics took second place, he was wowed by much of the work in the showcase. Indeed, he flooded this interviewer with pamphlets and comments, expletives and expressions of sheer wonder while recounting his Israeli experience.

The festival was headlined by work staged by Batsheva Dance, Inbal Dance – Israel’s oldest dance company, founded in 1949 – and Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, which is identified with the work of its artistic director, Rami Be’er.

Hawkins singled out the works of choreographers such as Dana Marcus of Tel Aviv’s BiZarre Dance Company; Ravid Abarbanel, who trained in Jerusalem and the Netherlands, and is respected throughout Europe; classically trained Martin Harriague, who has recently begun choreographing his own work; Noa Shadur, who blends video and dance in her work; and Ohad Naharin, the former artistic director of Batsheva Dance. “There were more than 30 performances,” he says, explaining how busy he was during his stay.

Overall, he loved the Israeli dance aesthetic. “Israeli dancers have got beards! They’re hairy. They’re tall and skinny with no calves. They are not classic dancer bodies. They’re like normal people!

“I couldn’t see everything in the festival,” he adds. “Each work had a single performance and there were six or seven each day. I gave three master classes and a lecture to a range of dancers. One was for teenagers, who couldn’t speak much English. Another was for dance teachers.”

The classes were important and enabled Hawkins to speak to the dancers through his techniques and the universal language that is dance. They were well received. It is a few months after the December trip, and Hawkins says his email account is still beeping with thanks and positive feedback from the students.

He makes mention of Gaga, a dance style developed by Naharin which is taking the world by storm. Punting itself as a movement language that originates from the belief in the healing, dynamic, ever-changing power of movement, it’s a style that blends Pilates with meditative listening to the body. And it’s beautiful to watch. Hawkins is determined to bring Gaga to South Africa soon.

After his Israel trip, Hawkins is inspired for the year ahead in dance. This week sees the opening of Johannesburg’s 30th Dance Umbrella, an annual festival of contemporary dance in which MIDM dancers – and dancers trained by MIDM – feature significantly. And later this year, MIDM celebrates its 40th birthday. Exciting milestones indeed.

• Dance Umbrella runs from March 6 to 18 at various venues in Johannesburg. For details, visit www.danceforumsouthafrica.co.za