For 25 years, Tmuna Theater’s Intimadance Festival has been a springboard for the most unusual, out-there dance pieces created in Israel.
A true fringe event, this festival celebrates and makes room for all kinds of “others,” providing the dance field with much-needed alternative conceptions of how dance can look, sound, and move. For many years, Intimadance focused its program on a theme, to which artists responded in their creations.
Last year, when choreographic and performance duo Niv Shenfeld and Oren Laor took up the artistic reins of the event, they decided to do without an organizing concept, allowing participating artists to create without thematic strings.
However, this year, the inescapable theme is reality. Though Shenfeld and Laor returned to an open call concept, directors and artists alike are aware that all performances viewed will be interpreted in relation to the political, social, and military situation.
The theater’s artistic directors have considered this fact when planning all events and festivals, specifically since October 7. Tmuna has an ongoing curatorial initiative under way called the documentary season, which places realistic theatrical events at its core. Intimadance, though slightly more abstract, will also provide a prism through which people can view the current situation.
Overall, 13 new works and one special event will be presented at this year’s festival, taking place June 12-15. Each is a unique reflection of this moment in time, be it in its attempt to escape thoughts of war or in its interpretation of the here and now.
The festival will also host Student Stage, a collection of chosen works created by dancers currently enrolled in a professional training program.
Intimadance’s program is divided into four main programs: two guest performances, the student creations, and an event honoring seminal Israeli dance figure Yair Vardi.
The various programs of the festival
Program A includes four short works: Haruki by Ido Barak, Lobster by Avigail Shafrir and Chen Agron, Dimdumim (Twilight) by Merav Dagan, and Loie by Liam Shnitzer.
Program B will also feature four short works; Light Me Up by Nadi Yoel, Rite of Spring by Hila Nachshonof, KAMA by Gianni Notarnicola, and Dance of the Daily by Yuval Finkelshtein and Noam Ben Israel.
Program C features a single work, HOME WORK by Maya Brinner in collaboration with her sons, Zohar and Michael. This piece is for the entire family and will be presenting during hours geared towards young audience members.
Program D includes Woven by Talia Barda, Faun by Artour Astman, and Over the Sky Blue by Zohar Karny. These artists range greatly in age, background, and experience and are certain to provide a diverse, if not highly eclectic, experience for viewers.
In addition, the festival will host veteran choreographer Dafi Altabeb with To Whom it May Touch, created in collaboration with Yankalle Filtser. The second guest performance will be by Intimadance’s artistic directors, Niv Shenfeld and Oren Laor, with their new work, Disco, Baby! Finally, Iris Lana and Yali Nativ, otherwise known as Creatures of Dance, will host an event to honor Yair Vardi, founder and longtime artistic director of the Suzanne Dellal Centre. Vardi’s contribution to Israeli dance is second to none.
All of these programs will fill the various spaces of Tmuna to the brim with movement and creation. And though it has been said numerous times before, it is possible that this Intimadance will be the last to inhabit the beloved, if not weather-worn, theater.
The Intimadance Festival will take place June 12 to June 15 at Tmuna Theater. For more information, visit www.tmu-na.org.il.
