Time to celebrate dance with Curtain Up 2010! Featuring new works from emerging Israeli choreographers, the main stage of the current dance scene will take place from November 23 – December 3, 2010 at the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv and the Rebecca Crown Auditorium in Jerusalem. The festival enters its 21st year with new vision and an expanded program: 12 premieres in four evenings of dance, each with a different artistic director – Renana Raz, Sahar Azimi, Tamar Borrer and Ronit Ziv, and the closing event, a symposium on dance and the body to take place at the Teiva in Jaffa on December 3, 2010.
Curtain Up is a landmark on the Israeli dance scene. For audiences it’s a feast of diverse moods and movement languages – each evening a mini-marathon of the latest in Israeli dance with 2 – 4 short works. For choreographers, it’s a chance to create in a supportive environment, and participate in a major dance festival. A project of the Department of Dance in the Ministry of Culture and Sport, headed by Nilly Cohen, Deputy Director of the Culture Authority, the festival was created to encourage and support emerging choreographers, providing them with a platform to present their work, with the benefit of logistic support and artistic guidance. Curtain Up is produced by the Israel Festival whose director is Yossi Tal Gan, with Miri Manirev producing the festival.
The Four “Curtains” will be:
Curtain One – Tamar Borrer, Artistic Director
Iris Erez – Homesick
Michael Getman – Father and Feather
Performances: Suzanne Dellal 25.11 & 3.12; Jerusalem Theatre 2.12
Curtain Two – Ronit Ziv, Artistic Director
Ofra Idel – Znav Sus (Hebrew: ponytail)
Inbal Oshman – Ta Medida (Hebrew: changing stall)
Tami and Ronen Izhaki – Ma Zot Asit (Genesis 26:10 “What have you done”)
Rotem Tashach – Andartaot (Hebrew: Monuments)
Performances: Suzanne Dellal 24.11 & 2.12; Jerusalem Theatre 1.12
Curtain Three – Renana Raz, Artistic Director
Maya Brinner – HaMofa (Hebrew: the performance)
Dana Ruttenberg – Private I’s
Gilli Navot – Check-in
Performances: Suzanne Dellal 27.11 & 1.12; Jerusalem Theatre 29.11
Curtain Four – Sahar Azimi, Artistic Director
Elad Schechter – Funis
Ariel Cohen – Ma’avakim LeAhavata Shel HaMeah Ha 21 (Hebrew: fighting for the love of the 21st century)
Shlomi Frige – Rashomon
Performances: Suzanne Dellal 26.11 & 4.12; Jerusalem Theatre 30.11
Always looking to the future, with a generation of established choreographers who took their first steps at the Curtain Up Festival, this year’s program reflects the festival’s coming of age. As Culture Authority Head Tzah Granit said, “After 20 years it’s time we developed a new generation of artistic directors.” With this aim in view, the four artistic directors were each given an evening to develop, selecting and providing artistic guidance for the choreographers of their choice. Granit further noted that more funding has been directed to independent choreographers this year, and, in cooperation with the Choreographer’s Society, plans are underway to create an advising body of choreographers who will be available to guide new choreographers in their artistic process.
Nilly Cohen noted that this year’s festival will also include conversations with artistic directors and choreographers preceding the performances and workshops coordinated by the Choreographer’s Society, in addition to a symposium on dance and the body organized by Yael Nattiv. The symposium will take place on December 3, 2010 at the Teiva, 19 Sderot Yerushalayim in Jaffa, from 9:00 to 13:30 and will be free and open to the public. Cohen said that in addition to the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem venues, the festival will travel to other locations in the north and south of Israel, mentioning Kfar Blum and the new cultural center in Dimona among the possibilities.
Check back for more details on Curtain Up 2010 in the coming weeks.
Tickets are 60 NIS and are available from the performance venues:
Suzanne Dellal, 5 Yehieli Street, Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv
www.suzannedellal.org.il; 03-5105656
The Jerusalem Theatre, 20 Marcus Street, Jerusalem
www.jerusalem-theatre.co.il; 02-5605755
