Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ International Dance Series includes ballet companies from Russia and Italy, but tucked in among the pointe shoes, classical lines and familiar stories is a bonus engagement by Israeli’s Batsheva Dance Company.
The company, helmed by artistic director Ohad Naharin, will make its Orange County debut Wednesday, bringing a repertoire show of contemporary modern dance. The performance, surrounded by buzz for the soon-to-be-released feature-length film about Naharin called “Mr. Gaga,” will introduce Naharin’s famed Gaga technique to a new audience.
“I have always wanted them to come to Orange County, so I couldn’t be happier,” said Segerstrom Executive Vice President Judy Morr, who said she has tried for years to get Batsheva on the program. “(Naharin) is one of the great choreographers of today, and if people don’t see his work, I think there would be something missing from their lives.”
Batsheva Dance Company was founded in 1964 by Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild after she spent time working with and supporting the Martha Graham Dance Company. Rothschild even invited Graham to act as an artistic consultant when Batsheva began.
A decade later, Naharin joined the company with no dance experience, and Graham, who was visiting as a guest choreographer, recognized Naharin’s raw talent and invited him to join her company in New York.
Since then, a lot has changed for the company, and those changes are due in large part to Naharin’s appointment as Batsheva’s artistic director in 1990. Over 27 years, Naharin has infused Batsheva dancers with a distinctive aesthetic that has propelled the company to the peak of contemporary dance.
“I encourage dancers to go beyond their familiar limits on a daily basis,” Naharin said. “It becomes multidimensional movement. You start to feel the flow of texture and pleasure and effort. Gravity becomes your friend. You feel more delicate and more sensitive and you can just explore.”
These ideas from Naharin come from the movement philosophy of Gaga, a technique, or rather a language, developed by Naharin that is based on instinctive movement. Batsheva dancers practice Gaga every day, and Naharin believes this helps them take ownership of the movement he choreographs.
“My dancers interpret my choreography and when they do, I see how they write a narrative that sometimes I didn’t write,” said Naharin. “They’re not just my tools, I want them to be active and I create for them a safety net for change.”
When the company performs at Segerstrom this week in “Decadance 2017,” it will present nine works from the Batsheva repertory. Although some of the pieces were created more than 10 years ago, Naharin stands by the notion that a work is never really finished. He considers the premiere of a work the beginning of a process, one that is like a game that allows dancers to find new solutions and better ways to play.
“We can reach magnificent moments although we are far from perfect,” said Naharin. “We don’t always succeed, but we aspire to do it, and that’s what the audience can feel. I want audiences to see the subtlety, the ability to laugh at ourselves as we explore small gestures, explosive form, order, chaos and volume.”
Segerstrom’s presentation of Batsheva may elicit some hesitancy from regular dance patrons because, as Naharin describes, the company presents work that doesn’t follow the conventions of other genres.
“Dance in America comes from the ballet world which has to obey certain codes in order to exist,” said Naharin. “We’re doing something that doesn’t obey, but we have a different agreement with our audience, a different kind of contract.”
Morr doesn’t deny that for Segerstrom patrons, Batsheva is a departure from the style of the other companies in this season’s lineup.
“I think it will take a person that is adventuresome, who is willing to try new things,” Morr said. “Those that know the work will just revel in it, but if it’s new, I don’t think you could not like it.”
In “Decadance 2017” Naharin hopes to offer the audience a new perspective.
Said Naharin: “For us, sharing what we do is our contract with the world. It’s about creating something that goes beyond what is inside the box; it’s about creating a moment that becomes sublime.”
Contact the writer: 714-796-6026 or kwright@scng.com
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