Here are the latest promotions, appointments and transfers, plus notable awards and accomplishments from the last month. Comings & Goings Stella Abrera has been appointed artistic director of Kaatsbaan, effective January 1. Brett Conway and Laura O’Malley have been named co-artistic directors of SFDanceworks. They succeed founder James Sofranko, who took over the artistic directorship […]

What makes big-time music artists and their collaborators think they can directly plagiarize the work of concert dance choreographers? And, no, this time we’re not talking about Beyoncé. Last Wednesday, country artist Kelsea Ballerini performed her song “Miss Me More” at the Country Music Awards. The choreography by Nick Florez and R.J. Durell—which Taste of […]

On the Mediterranean coast in Tel Aviv, a wave of change is headed toward shore. For nearly 30 years, Israel’s magnetic Batsheva Dance Company has been led by the influential choreographer Ohad Naharin, who has provided the troupe with a vast repertory of evocative works as well as a bold physical identity thanks to Gaga, […]

I dance to remember. I dance to forget. I dance to contain. I dance for my mom and dad. I dance to show my love. I dance when I cannot speak. I dance when words won’t do any justice. I dance to connect with strangers. I dance to understand. I dance to feel differences. I […]

It’s difficult to imagine a Batsheva Dance Company without Ohad Naharin at the helm. The provocative choreographer has been the Israeli troupe’s artistic director since 1990, during which time the company, its lead choreographer and his movement language, Gaga, have become more or less synonymous. But changes are afoot. Batsheva quietly announced on its website […]

Go to almost any contemporary dance performance in the U.S. and you’ll see the influence of Ohad Naharin. Since taking the helm of Batsheva Dance Company in 1990, Naharin has transformed the group into a global force in dance. His contagious movement practice, Gaga, has spread far and wide, changing the way many choreographers think […]

Bobbi Jene Smith in Naharin’s Sadeh21. Photo by Joe Toreno. Sometimes, the simplest parts of choreography make the biggest impressions. For weeks after seeing Batsheva perform Ohad Naharin’s Last Work, I couldn’t stop thinking about the woman running for the entire 65-minute piece (probably 6-7 miles) on a narrow treadmill upstage. I had so many […]

In Ohad Naharin’s provocative Sadeh21, 18 elastic-bodied members of the Batsheva Dance Company explore movement in 21 studies, set to a moody soundtrack. Its striking imagery—narrative gestures such as beating the chest and blowing a kiss—has been interpreted alternately as political and personal, with the work coming to a surprising and dramatic conclusion. U.S. audiences […]