‘Heroes’ Explores Intimacy

24/3/2009

These two Israeli dancers have absorbed some of the European, and surely Nordic, angst and theatricality, yet perhaps the abundant energy of Israeli life is evident in their emphasis on struggle.

Latitudes North/ Scandinavia took a little side trip Thursday evening at the North Fourth Art Center. Global DanceFest presented two Israeli choreographers/ dancers in concert by way of their sojourns in Denmark. Oded Graf and Yossi Berg performed “Heroes,” a duet in two parts exploring, through strong, dramatic movement, issues of intimacy and communication.

Songs by The Turtles and David Bowie from the 1960s were fused into an electronic score by Ohad Fishof.

It hummed and buzzed, expanding in volume as the dancers developed their themes, providing a kind of static sound ambiance that was totally nonhuman and suggested loneliness in an alienated environment.

Part 1 introduced several basic gestural motifs executed in sharp, almost spastic dynamics. Graf’s arms circled in an embrace, reached out to search for a relation to the world, then retreated to hide his face.

As the two men approached and retreated from each other in percussive spurts and stops, games of interaction began and halted to reveal both playful humor and an ultimately sad conclusion.

Their movement was tortuous, with torsos twisting, sinews and muscles wrenching shoulders and arms in an agonized, very physical struggle.

As the background sound grew louder, voices mumbled, laughed and grunted, until a song emerged; “Imagine you … imagine me, happy together,” followed by a repeated vocal rhythm, “Ba ba ba-bum” sung by Graf. Berg joined him in moves that mirrored each other at first, and then became unison.

Part 2 was far more involved with vigorous moves covering space as the men contacted each other in repeated phrases that established another game. They entwined fiercely, beat elbows on each other, pulled apart in swinging turns and kept in touch with each other’s bodies. When Graf put both hands over his face, Berg would gently try to pry them away.

The pursuit and retreat game continued, culminating in wonderful unison sections almost totally performed at floor level, then whirling into play fights as Graf picked up his partner and turned him in a circle upside down.

The accompanying piano music, with the solid early rock beat of Bowie’s music, developed into the song about heroes, “We can be heroes, just for one day,” as the dancers struggled heroically with each other.

It came across finally as a sad statement. The hope of controlling life heroically ended in exhaustion. Bathed in a bloody red light, the men lay on the floor, contracted and pulled away from each other.

These two Israeli dancers have absorbed some of the European, and surely Nordic, angst and theatricality, yet perhaps the abundant energy of Israeli life is evident in their emphasis on struggle.

These are remarkable young artists, journeying and learning all over the world as they tour through Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Taiwan, Japan, Poland, Germany and the United States, always returning to Tel Aviv in between jaunts.

Full review