DANCE REVIEW
Company LEV ‘Love Chapter 02’
Creator: Sharon Eyal Suzanne Dellal Center, Tel Aviv September 8
On current visit of LEV, the company showcased “Love Chapter 02,” the second link of an ongoing project by choreographer Sharon Eyal and her co-creator partner, Gai Behar. The intense journey was launched a few years ago with “OCD Love,” a pivotal creation with new depth, which pushed Eyal’s artistry further, yet maintained her distinctive style. The third link of this journey is “The Brutal Journey of the Heart,” which will premiere in Germany at the end of this month.
“Love Chapter 02,” like the company’s previous work, relies on a small cast of outstanding dancers who bring to stage individuality and character that was sometimes lacking in some earlier creations. Thematically, it preserves the essence and serenity of “OCD Love,” particularly in the first section, due to the hypnotically expressive body of Rebecca Hytting, who conveys almost translucent gradations of inner moods with her wing-like arms, swaying upper body and total immersion in attending to the slightest details.
The powerful impact of those sections comes in big part to the long and tight artistic partnership of Eyal and Ori Lichtik. His musical contribution supports and mirrors Eyal’s intentions, as much as he himself was obviously influenced by her movement’s modes since he started to work with her. His slow, insisting rhythms at the beginning is but a promising introduction to a welling emotional turmoil leading to erupting ecstasy, using repetitive motifs containing larger gestures, enabling the dancers to reach a pinnacle of corporal delights.
In a way, the fact that the first half was so strong accentuated the somewhat looser second half. Yes, Eyal’s work remained sensuous, the dancing stayed impressive, yet some real fire was missing, and seemed to be replaced with attempts to keep up the energy and focus with more effort and less passion. The last scene was a bit unsettling, as the dancers seem to cry and laugh simultaneously; introducing a last-minute proposition that seriously needed a context.
The dance did receive a rare and loud standing ovation to each and every dancer, from Rebecca Hytting to the fabulous Darren Davaney, through Mariko Kakizaki, Keren Lurie Pardes and Daniel Norgren-Jensen.