Batsheva Ensemble Presents:
APPROPRIATION
A ballet by Hillel Kogan.
Premiere: March 18, Suzanne Dellal
Photo: Ascaf
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In his works, Kogan travels through various artistic worlds as a fascinated “tourist”, exposing how art in general and the dancing body in particular serve as sites of political and cultural constructs.
In the ballet “Appropriation” he visits the “dance company” institution, sending Batsheva Ensemble dancers on a quest full of conquests, quotes, tributes, and countless spectacular references to a bounty of cultures near and far – waiting to be plundered, decorated, erased, and eaten away.
Kogan’s ballet is a masquerade ball, where the lines of political correctness are crossed in the name of artistic and physical freedom, a carnival of body and flesh. The material (dancer) yields to the hands of the maker and the eyes of the viewer. His dancing body is virtuosic, seductive, and unattainable, elevated above the masses, sacred, and cool.
Choreography: Hillel Kogan
Performed by the dancers of the Batsheva Ensemble season 2023-2024
Gili Yaniv Amodai, Emil Brukman, Holden Cole, Victor Duval, Maya Marom, Bo Matthews, Mermoz Melchior, Celia Merai, Kylie Miller, Sofiia Pikalova, Leann Reizer, Kelis Robinson, Adi Schwarz, Annika Verplancke .
Apprentices: Zoe Bayliss Nagar, Shira Kestenboum, Noga Senna, Yarden Zana.
Dramaturgy: Sharon Zuckerman Weiser | Lighting and Set Design: Nadav Barnea | Costume Design: Evelyn Terdiman | Art Direction: Laetitia Boulud |
Masks: Nothing’s Personal by Matan Meirson & Raz Sintova
Special Thanks to Nirith Nelson, Yael Eshel