Interview Series: Renana Raz
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DEBORAH FRIEDES |
Publicity for Renana Raz’s Kazuaria
Publicity for Renana Raz’s concert Hebrew Labor
Renana Raz in We Have Been Called to Go, shown recently in the concert Hebrew Labor
Renana Raz is a relatively young choreographer, but she has already developed a unique artistic voice and an impressive body of work. Prior to interviewing her, I viewed a DVD of her repertory and attended a high-energy performance of Kazuaria, which was inspired by and incorporated elements from the Druze debka dance. After our conversation, I couldn’t wait to see We Have Been Called to Go, which like Kazuaria weaves folk dance - in this case, Israeli folk dance - into a decidedly contemporary concert dance framework. When I finally saw this work, I stayed up much of the night writing in my blog about it!
Before arriving in Israel, I wondered if choreographers were dealing with specifically Israeli subject matter in their work. Nearly seven months into my time here, the short answer (and there is a long one!) is that the vast majority of Israeli contemporary dance presented this season has not featured explicitly Israeli characters, situations, or symbols. The two pieces by Renana that I mentioned above are some of the only works I have viewed which place the Israeli context center stage. I’m happy to say that they captured my attention not only because of this distinction but also because of their fine craft and compelling performance.
Renana’s repertory stretches beyond the Israeli context even when she is expressly exploring it, and we talk about this in our conversation. But - just as I gained some insight into Israeli society by watching Kazuaria and We Have Been Called to Go - you’ll get to learn a bit about Israeli culture by listening to her talk about these dances!
Hear my interview with Renana, see more pictures, and link to videos at Israel Seen
(URL: http://israelseen.com/2008/03/05/deborah-interviews-israeli-choreographer-renana-raz/)
Read a post about my experience watching We Have Been Called to Go at my website.
