The Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center (or the Opera House as it is popularly known) has a very solid dance program each season which brings every year to Tel Aviv most of the best ballet and modern dance companies world-wide. We used to be subscribed for a few years to the series, but the lack of time pressed us into giving up and attending only occasionally the ballet performances here or in other places in Israel. This time we changed the tickets to a cancelled opera performance for what was probably one of the picks of the ballet (actually modern dance) season this year.
source http://www.costanorte.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/12foto02.jpg
Deborah Colker was born in Brazil in 1960, she started her own company named now Companhia de Dança Deborah Colker in 1993. The style she developed is based on the celebration of the human body and on the artistic and acrobatic skills of her dancers. Some of the more recent performances show more sophistication in combining music, dance and stage accessories that amplify and enhance the efforts of the dancers. It’s no coincidence if the style reminds Cirque du Soleil, as Deborah created one of the most recent performance of that company.
(video source Cia Deborah Colker)
The program brought to the Israeli audiences is named Mix and brings together parts of the two first shows of the company created in 1994-1995. Six different pieces with a duration of around 10 minutes each deal with the relations between the human body and the environment, between men and machines, and between couples. The most daring piece and the one that will be remembered by all audiences who have seen the show is is the final one, which is danced on a vertical plane, creating a very special experience for dancers and viewers and challenging the sportive skills of the dancers. I have seen the idea perfected in the Cirque du Soleil’s ‘K’ show one decade after this program was created, and it seems that Deborah Colker really pioneered an idea that is still striking and daring even today.
The dancers gave last night a fantastic show, and even if the acrobatic thrills in some places seemed to prevail over the artistic emotions there can be no doubt about their dedication to the art they are making, and about their passion (and the evident pleasure of the leader of the company who showed up on stage at the end to thank the audiences) to dance and to be here. A great evening of modern dance.