Ohad Naharin Batsheva Dance Company

MOMO has two souls. One sends long roots to the depths of the earth – a soul that embodies archetypes and myths of hardened, raw masculinity, and the other is in a constant search for an individual and distinct DNA; one moves within its own autonomous and independent force field and the other is a constellation of elements that spin around the same nucleus – alternately drifting away and towards it, making room for necessary tenderness and catharsis.  With a soundtrack comprised mostly of the album Landfall by the legendary Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet, one of the foremost contemporary classical music ensembles, a shared passion of deep sorrow and beauty unfolds on stage. Relinquishment becomes a dedicated search for a crack, and glitches in the movement code turn out to be free, playful, and emotive material.

Ohad Naharin is the house choreographer of Batsheva Dance Company and creator of the Gaga movement language. Naharin was born in 1952 in Mizra, Israel.  His mother is a choreographer, dance teacher, and Feldenkrais instructor, and his father was an actor and psychologist. He joined the Batsheva Dance Company in 1974 despite having little formal training.  During his first year, guest choreographer Martha Graham invited him to join her own company in New York. He then joined Maurice Béjart’s Twentieth Century Ballet in Brussels for one season. From 1980 until 1990, Naharin presented works in New York and abroad, including pieces for Batsheva Dance Company, the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and the Netherlands Dance Theatre. In 1990, Naharin was appointed artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, and in the same year, he established the company’s junior division, Batsheva – the Young Ensemble.  He has since created more than 40 works for both companies. After almost thirty years of leading Batsheva, Naharin stepped down as artistic director in 2018, and continues to serve as the company's house choreographer. In addition to his stage work, Naharin also developed Gaga, an innovative movement language based on research into heightening sensation and imagination, becoming aware of form, finding new movement habits, and going beyond familiar limits. Gaga is the daily training of Batsheva’s dancers and has spread globally among both dancers and non-dancers.   


Co-presentation with:
Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB), July 13th and 14th, 2023