Next week, Naharin will perform Playback, an intimate musical production, at the Suzanne Dellal Center’s Yaron Yerushalmi Hall.
By ORI J. LENKINSKIA multi-talent show(photo credit: ASKAF)
There are those terribly annoying people who pick up an instrument and, without having ever studied it before, can play. These talented individuals don’t mean to show off, they just have a skill level above the norm. Ohad Naharin is most certainly one of these individuals. Aside from being a prolific, ground-breaking, trend-setting choreographer, he is also a gifted musician and performer. Next week, Naharin will perform Playback, an intimate musical production, at the Suzanne Dellal Center’s Yaron Yerushalmi Hall.Playback premiered in 2004 as a solo show that Naharin wrote, directed and starred in. The performance was a featured event in the Isrotel Hotel company’s annual Phaza Morgana Festival.In the 15 years since that first venture into the musical sphere, much has happened in Naharin’s professional and personal life. He became a father, created a score of new works, largely developed the now-booming international Gaga (Naharin’s movement language) empire and stepped down as the artistic director of Batsheva Dance Company.Perhaps it is due to all of these shifts that Naharin felt the urge to return to the simplicity and focused nature of Playback. For the revival of this work, Naharin called upon two iconic former Batsheva Dance Company members, Iyar Elezra and Yaara Moses, to join him on stage. He also turned to a number of collaborators to compose original music among them Ohad Fishof, Ivri Lider and Yonatan Oppenheim. While Naharin has spent decades conveying his vision and aesthetic to audiences through large groups of virtuoso performers, seeing him on stage is second to nothing. Naharin, 67, has all of the energy and charisma of a revered rock & roll star. Flanked by the fierce Elezra and Moses, Naharin reveals himself as the true source of the unfettered stage presence with which Batsheva Dance Company has become inherently tied.Playback will be performed from October 28-31. For more information, visit batsheva.co.il.
