Mad decent dancing

An Evening of Ohad Naharin


Thursday night was a bit of a big night. I was going to the ballet to watch Lenaig perform some works by the Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin. I've been a huge fan of his work and I have many friends who have danced in his pieces. I was really hoping to bring a guy from work but was a bit disappointed that he declined my invitation. But I didn't take it too personally and decided to bring Janice instead, another co-worker, who jumped at the opportunity. I keep forgetting that some people still don't know anything about dance and are kind of afraid of it. And now like most live shows, Ballet is really expensive. Most people who might enjoy it most simply can't afford to go. Which is why I was a bit saddened by this person's response to my invitation. It could have been a surprisingly inspiring evening.

I love Ohad's pieces because they are really engaging and accessible to regular people who may not necessarily go to the ballet on a regular basis. There's such an emotional response to his work that I find exhilirating.

It was an evening of three works. I thought the company looked strong. It's really nice to be at my age to have seen so much dance that I have a more discerning eye. I have seen companies like Cedar Lake, Le Grand Theatre du Geneve, and even Ohad's own company, Batsheva Dance Company, perform his dances so it was cool to contrast and compare. Ohad likes to cut and paste different sections of dances to create new works for companies around the world so I found myself recognizing certain sections of dancing but not quite remembering where I had seen it or which company performed it.

Ohad is a master of group work, patterns and forms. His partnering and small group sections are always fluid and dynamic, he's always working from a place of total stillness to high energy, order into chaos.

Lenaig past on some fascinating information after the performance about his creative process. I marveled at how tight the group work was and Lenaig told me it was because the dancers are equipped with tiny ear pieces. While the audience is watching and listening to composed music, the dancers are onstage, moving to a completely different score. "With the lighting it is difficult to see anyone else. Sometimes all we are listening to is a metronome."

I was totally fascinated by this piece of information. When I saw Batsheva perform for a private function in New York the dancers had just gotten off a plane from Berlin. In the start of one section half the dancers calmly walked off the stage while I group of eight remained and danced a small group section. It was later brought to our attention that half the group's ear pieces weren't working so they all decided to exit, leaving the remainder to finish the movement. Ohad looked thrilled by the interesting turn of events.

"That's my biggest fear, to have the ear piece not work!" said Lenaig over a glass of wine. It blew my mind that the dancers were performing in a completely different mood to what the audience might be seeing and feeling. "What do you listen to?" I asked.

"Well, in the first piece it was Tom Waits. But it could be anything, any music. Sometimes he chooses words to move to." Fascinating.

Lenaig and Rodney, after the show


Afterwards I headed over to DL Jones's Birthday party at 1234. Diplo was spinning and I never had a chance to check him out while I was living in New York so it was a nice treat. The party was what I have come to expect from DL. Peer Pressure opened and were tight as always. The crowd was ready to get down. I have to say that even though I do find myself judging today's club fashion (sort of nineties raver 2.0. H&M meets Yellow Rat Bastard) I am glad that people are having fun with clothes again. I witnessed a lot of cool ravers slowly morph into Diesel outfits. Girls that used to wear visors and running shoes were now in heels and tight tops. Now people are getting colourful and crazy and I'm enjoy it though it does at times look like Urban Outfitters just puked everywhere.

The music too harkens back to a more raver sensibility with beats that are techno and garage driven. Diplo played a Booka Shade track which I adore and marked my exit at around two in the morning. As I was getting on my coat to leave a girl looked at me as she climbed the stairs back to the club. I winked at her and she smiled. She had on the geekiest glasses ever.