A utopian Jerusalem
If Boris Schatz were to walk through Jerusalem today, what would he think of it? Would the founder of Bezalel Academy and “father of Israeli art” see his visions in life or would he be disappointed by how the city had continued on after his passing?
In his 1918 book, Yerushalayim Habnuya (Built Jerusalem), Schatz depicted his predictions for a future, utopian Jerusalem one hundred years forward. This year, we finally have reached the end of Schatz’s timeline.
As the basis for its ninth program, the Between Heaven and Earth Festival asked its artists to consider Schatz’s concept. Had the city reached the highs that he outlined, or has it broken away from Schatz’s ideals?
The festival, which will take place this week, is a stand-out event on the annual cultural calendar. Established and directed by choreographer Ronen Itzhaki, Between Heaven and Earth is a platform for contemporary Jewish dance. For many, this may sound like an oxymoron.
The connection between performance – especially something as physically revealing as dance – and religion is not an obvious one. For decades, many artists have seen these two things as being mutually exclusive and have had to choose between their religious and artistic practices. But for Itzhaki, the bond between spirituality and artistic expression is endlessly important and vital in his life and work.
Itzhaki is founder of the Kaet Ensemble, an all-male contemporary, Orthodox Jewish dance troupe. Both in his work with the company and as the director of Between Heaven and Earth, Itzhaki asks his colleagues and audiences to explore dance as a vehicle for religious expression. The festival began as a Jerusalem-based event but quickly proved that its subject matter and approach were meaningful to audiences and artists further afield.
To answer the growing demand, this year Itzhaki and his team will present installations of the festival’s program in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. The program, which is the broadest and most action-packed to date, features new and existing works by local choreographers, staged and outdoor performances, a conference on dance, utopia and gender as well as a film screening. Several of the performances will be presented to female-only audiences.
Among the premieres are a new work for Ensemble Kaet by Hannan Anando Mars, Iris Erez’s Leaving Here, Anat Yaffe’s Answers No!, Full Emptiness by Maya Reshef, Idan Cohen’s Benevenuto
and Yoanna Blikman’s Breathing Room.
Each artist took the subject matter of a utopian Jerusalem into consideration and allowed it to influence their process. The works are, as such, connected yet distinctly different from one another.
The events will take place at a number of locations throughout Jerusalem, including the Gerard Behar Center, the Mahaneh Yehuda Market, the Israel Museum and the Ephron Dance Center. In addition to the performances, Between Heaven and Earth will offer a number of workshops, such as Gaga and improvisational movement.
The Between Heaven and Earth Festival will take place October 22-25. For more information, visit www.docdance.com.