June 30, 2008 at 8:11 pm · Filed under dance, environment, DEBORAH, kibbutz, Vertigo Dance Company, Noa Wertheim, Eco-Art Village, Adi Sha'al
Adi Sha’al and Noa Wertheim of Vertigo Dance Company. Photo by Eyal Landesman.
Noa Wertheim’s Vertigo and the Diamonds. Photo by Miri Yanai Shimonovich.
Noa Wertheim’s White Noise which premiered this year. Photo by Gadi Dagon.
As I have traveled through Israel’s dance circles, I have run into Noa Wertheim and Adi Sha’al many times: at Vertigo Dance Company’s concerts at the Suzanne Dellal Center, at contact jams, and at a performance of Noa’s work on students from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. With their company, their school in Jerusalem, and their growing artist village on Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Hey, this dynamic couple is a powerful force in the Israeli contemporary dance scene. They’re also revolutionary in their community-centered and environmentally-conscious approach to dance. Join us as Noa talks about raising a family while directing a company, building the Eco-Art Village, choreographing the site-specific environmental dance Birth of the Phoenix, and engaging in “tikkun olam” - healing the world - through her work.
Hear our conversation, see more pictures, and link to videos on Israel Seen.
(URL: http://israelseen.com/2008/06/30/deborah-friedes-interviews-noa-wertheim-and-adi-shaal-the-directors-of-vertigo-dance-company/
Read my previous post on the Vertigo Dance Company here on The Winger.
View a video about the Eco-Art Village here.
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May 23, 2008 at 10:24 am · Filed under dance, environment, DEBORAH, israel, kibbutz, Vertigo Dance Company, Noa Wertheim, Eco-Art Village, intentional community, contact improvisation, Adi Sha'al
A sign pointing towards Vertigo Dance Company’s studio on Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Hey.
Vertigo’s building.
Vertigo’s gorgeous, spacious studio.
A view from the studio - farm equipment and all!
It’s not often that you gaze out the window of a dance studio and see tractors with bales of hay - but during my visit to the Vertigo Dance Company on Sunday, that’s exactly what I saw. Located in Israel’s Elah Valley, Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Hey is home to the new Eco-Art Village, an intentional community of environmentally-friendly artists pioneered by Vertigo’s directors Noa Wertheim and Adi Sha’al. It’s an incredible place, but for now I’ll just leave you with these pictures and save the explanation for the interview to come!
When I was there on Sunday, I observed a rehearsal of Noa’s latest work, Ra’ash Levan (White Noise). The dance’s movement vocabulary - with influences from ballet, release technique, contact improvisation, and martial arts - kept me focused on the activity within the studio despite the temptation to look out the windows at the unfamiliar and beautiful surroundings. I returned to the Eco-Art Village on Tuesday for a school performance of Birth of the Phoenix. Premiered in 2004, Birth of the Phoenix is a site-specific work in which the company dances on a special dirt floor under a geodesic dome that is re-constructed for each show (the group has performed the work hundreds of times in Israel and abroad). Like White Noise, this work is extremely athletic with plenty of floorwork, soaring jumps, and partnering - and seeing the dancers throw themselves (at times literally!) into such full-bodied movement on a dirt floor was inspiring.
Here are a few photos to give you a sense of the setting for Birth of the Phoenix:
Me outside the geodesic dome for Vertigo’s Birth of the Phoenix
Inside the dome before the performance.
Recent Posts by deborah friedes
