White Bird presents work by cutting-edge Israeli choreographer

By JEWISH REVIEW

article created on: 2011-05-01T00:00:00

White Bird Dance will conclude its 13th season with “Monger,” one of the most acclaimed dance works to come out of Israel in recent years,

The work—choreographed by Barak Marshall, acclaimed as one of Israel’s most original new voices, and produced by Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance in Tel Aviv produced—will be performed at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. on May 17.

One hour long without intermission, the work features 10 leading dancers from celebrated Israeli companies including Batsheva Dance Company, Kibbutz Dance Company, Vertigo Dance Company and the Inbal Pinto Dance Company.

“Monger’s” mysterious world is enhanced by a fascinating score that incorporates the music of Balkan Beat Box, Handel, Verdi and National Public Radio’s Yiddish Radio Project. Premiering to unanimous acclaim in 2008 at the Dellal Centre, it was hailed as a “complex, engaging and inspiring creation”

A word that means both the “trader of a commodity” and the action of “selling oneself,” “Monger” tells the story of a group of servants, trapped in the basement of the house of an abusive mistress.

Barak Marshall draws inspiration from several sources including the life and work of the famed Polish writer Bruno Shultz, Jean Genet’s play “The Maids” and Robert Altman’s film “Gosford Park.”

Exploring pain and anger, Marshall uses the dancers’ bodies to express physical force yet also shows the insecurity and loneliness within each of us. “Monger” speaks to Marshall’s Jewish heritage, but he is not afraid to satirize and at times ridicule his origins. It is an uplifting and exhilarating piece in its theatricality, physicality and intense emotion.

Son of acclaimed dancer, choreographer and musician Margalit Oved, Barak Marshall studied social theory and philosophy at Harvard before quickly establishing himself as one of Israel’s most innovative and unique dance artists. His first work, Aunt Leah (1995), won first prize in the Shades of Dance Competition, and his third work, Emma Goldman’s Wedding (1998), represented Israel in the 1998 Bagnolet International Competition where it won first prize, the Adami Award, the Bonnie Byrd Award for New Choreography and the Audience Award.

Commissioned by the Suzanne Dellal Centre in 2008, Monger has been performed throughout Israel, Europe and Asia including appearances in Switzerland, China, Korea, Romania, France and Italy. Barak Marshall’s latest work, Rooster—a coproduction of the Suzanne Dellal Centre and the Israeli Opera—premiered in November 2009.

The recipient of the 2010 Israel Prize for its contribution to the arts, the Suzanne Dellal Centre was founded in 1989 by the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality, the Tel Aviv Foundation, Israel’s Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Dellal Family of London—in memory of their daughter Suzanne. Established in the heart of Tel Aviv’s historic Neve Tzedek neighborhood, the Centre has dramatically transformed Israel’s cultural map and is the main force behind the renaissance of Israeli contemporary dance.

Tickets are priced from $22 and are available at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts box office and from Ticketmaster outlets—1-800-745-3000.

Learn more and watch a preview online at whitebird.org.