The Dances Are for Us

“…a powerful and brave move by Ahuvia, who actively works to dispel the romanticism so often associated with Israeli folk dance. She moves to distance the pristine nature associated with the dances and the land, both forcefully contrived, and utilizes its force to break with its narrativization. Her choreography moves towards freedom, making it necessarily politically charged: a choreopolitical movement.” -Yarden Stern

The Dances Are For Us continues Hadar Ahuvia’s examination the pedagogical structures of Israeli folk dance and its critique. While returning to the sounds, images, and mythologies surrounding the Jezreel Valley/ Marj Ibn Amer where her family settled and where the folk dances emerged, the work is grounded in the U.S., where the dances are practiced by folklorists, Zionists, Jews and Christians alike.

The work proposes a way of breaking the cycles of transmission, appropriation, and theft- across vast plains of ideological manifestations and technological advancements- that have present-day consequences for Palestinians, Israelis and Americans.

Working with a group of dancers with various proximities to Zionist and other folk traditions, The Dances are for Us seeks to model accountability to one’s own heritage and history.

The creation of The Dances Are For Us was made possible, in part, by the Danspace Project 2018-19 Commissioning Initiative, with support from the Jerome Foundation. The Dances Are For Us was developed in part during a residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York, NY. This work was developed with support from the Process Lab/Performance Residences program at Mana Contemporary.

The Dances are for Us emerges as a compelling form of self-assessment of how our very movements through the world can be inextricably linked to oppression and colonization.
-Owen Duffy, Performa Magazine

Premiered Danspace Project, May 2019

Direction and Choreography by Hadar Ahuvia

Performed by Hadar Ahuvia Oren Barnoy, Raha Behnam, Autumn Leonard, rosza daniel lang/levitsky, Mor Mendel, Jules Skloot, Zavé Martohardjono

Text by Hadar Ahuvia and the collaborators

Project Midwifery rosza daniel lang/levitsky and Jules Skloot

Rehearsal Director Jules Skloot

Dramaturgy Amir Farjoun

Projection Design Gil Sperling

Technical Operator Marlee Weinberg

Lighting Design Carol Mullins

Sound Design Avi A. Amon

Costume Design Zavé Martohardjono