A Good Collaboration - Ohad Naharin's Batsheva Dance Company @ BAM

Zlatin in foreground Photo: Stephanie Berger

From the idiosyncratic-hip stride from the woman to the serene stare from all 18 dancers in Ohad Naharin’s Batsheva Dance Company for Sadeh21 (November 12-15) at BAM, it’s all about the entire package.  Works, and the presentation of works such as this, confirm the possibility of good collaboration.  In fact Naharin doesn’t take full credit for the choreography; he writes: “In collaboration with Batsheva dancers.” These dancers slip and slide out of balances and dart-like sequences, and their complex mixing and mingling in groups of varied numbers comes honestly through teamwork.  For instance, at one point, guided by Adi Zlatin after a meditative duet with Ian Robinson and a hippy-wobble around the stage, she calls out numbers (4, 1 or 2, 1, 1, 1, or 2, 2, 1), and in response, the dancers pair up according to her call.  The initially stark white space constantly morphs because of Avi Yona Buen’s dynamic mood-driven lights; Maxim Waratt’s sound design always fit nicely; Raz Friedman’s video titles drew a chuckle when the singularly-numbered guide (Sadeh1…etc.) was compounded (Sadeh7-18) moving things along; and to shake things up a bit, costume designer Ariel Cohen, for the men’s loud and mad dash to the stage, outfitted them in fabulous black dresses.  And oh…there was something really special about the velvet pants and shorts.  Naharin and Company makes us laugh when butts bump, we lift an eyebrow when in a sharp line the men begin a deconstructed Horah dance, or a queasy feeling comes over us during Omri Drumlevich’s tale told awkwardly through unidentifiable sounds.  Then there was the high-pitched sound score of unending pain amidst an obscured conversation just before the dancers disappear.  They reappear, but as pieces that continually fall from the top of the wall into the abyss.  They didn’t return for a curtain call, so here’s to you dancers – KUDOS!

Dancers/Performers: William Barry, Mario Bermudez Gil, Omri Drumlevich, Bret Easterling, Iyar Elezra, Rani Lebzelter, Eri Nakamura, Ori Moshe Ofri, Rachael Osborne, Shamel Pitts, Oscar Ramos, Nitzan Ressler, Ian Robinson, Or Meir Schraiber, Maayan Sheinfeld, Bobbi Smith, Zina (atalya) Zinchenko and Adi Zlatin.