. THE LYRIC THEATRE AND BY NATHAN MISHORI

when she THE UNDERSTANDING HEART ,1953 תEver since 1 first met Anna Sokolow i d When Anna Sokolow is creating for a group, her ת came 10 Israel at the instigation of a with the help of the America-Jsrael Culture Foundation , work revea1s two eJements that are actually one and the - today, innumerable voices same, as far as she is concerned - human va1ues and choreo ו i ו then the Norman Fund), un ) he name 'Anna'. Those that graphic values. At the core of her compositions stands ו have reached me - all uttering - g voices of the early days of modern m3n - without theatrical embellishment or affecת come 10 mind are the you nbal', of students of drama and dance who studied with tations which diminish 3nd distort ms true image. Historical ן' ot genera1Jy part of her subject מ ogical figures 3re נ d the United States. Inter- or mytho ת her in various courses in Israel a mingled with these, are the voices of choreographers and matter . dancers Jerome Robbins, Glenn Tetley, John Butler, Alvin ey. Martha Hill - of ו Ailey, Norman Morrice, Jane Dud actors Aharon Meskin, Hanna Rovina, Fania Lubitsch and , Sokolow's work מ Truth and beauty are bound together i ת many, many others from the theatre and dance world i but it is essentially the truth which detennines the quality There are .ו ited States, England, Holland and Israe תthe U of beauty as (ar as she is concerned. Ugly attracts no limits to the profusion of feelings expressed in these behaviouf and evokes her choreographic reactions with תher attentio gמ na's presence or not, or when recalli מvoices, whether in A m dancerס regard 10 mankind today. From the individual, fr d the !arger part of these expression were מher name. A and. spectator alike, she demands an emotional response - always love , appreciation and admiration for the .artist and g thatת the prompting of one's conscience, an understandi fluence מ se i מperson, the teacher Ind choreographer ofimme justifies the term ' human being' . and individuality, for a figure which symbolised an unques - . d between humanity and the art of movement מionable bo ו

here and there amidst the rich harmony of וis true tha ון her work, apart from that for the מstory line i םמ There is otes. There were legitimate theatre. Poetry is the rule. Her poelry suffers theמ voices there were also some dissonant a's ממts of joy. Aמ d recaUs his few momeמ of man a מ of course, criticised pai ,ו the name of ar מthose who, speaking i dividuals מg technical approach and serious choreographic song weaves, forcefully, the coming together of iמ di מ her dema aste and for whom, it who, in their fusion, may possibly arrive at the meaning of ו to their ו themes, which were nO appeared, she lacked respect and underrated them. There life . were a!so those youngsters who had dropped out of her h the roug.h side of her ו classes as they could not put up wi er hands. But even those who were ןtongue, or at timcs, I Eve ~ y creative work, including choreography, needs c]early d all agreeמ dispIeased or disquieted by her, discovered a to define the opposite po]es of its material. These out]ine that Anna Sokolow and her close Iinks with Israel, served the living space in which the work moves and develops. Of O, that her personality, her values ן as a challenge to live up and artistic activities changed the landscape and opencd up these contrasts, or opposite poles, we find a number which , a Sokolow's work in particular מ are characteristic of An ce inמ he art of da ו the development of מnew avenues i and of modem art in general. We find the 'choreographic Israel . clustec' - a body of closely-knit dancers, as well as its op- l around the ו posite, a widespread dispersal of dancers a ; e straig.ht line and a brpken series of dots ו stage; a sing cersת the da [ו ed by a ן from an article which appeared in ' unisond' - the same movements enaC מ Translatio ) ts ת dependent moveme תIsrael Dance " 78/79) at the same time , and varied and i "

37 al of her wo rk has an express.ive motivationנ of each dancer, as in polyphonic music. in which the l.imits Every fonnal det מ d every movement derives from a מ d the source of each aמ ts . a מ t icipaזthe number of p a מof choreographic lines l.ie only i t מ er spirituaJ emotion. In other workds, the moveme מ In various choreographies, Anna gives these basic contrasts in diverse fonns. Th.e attraction of opposite poles she uses in a does not only represent its outward aspect but aJso the feel · it does not suffice to ,מ in order to develop movement ings that prompted it. For this reaso מ 10gicaJ and conscious fashio - ing of her choreo מ tire mea מ e's eyes to grasp the e מ to and from pole to pole, by establishing different inter - use o g heart. Theמ s of grouping and dispersaJ, lines and dots, in graphy, one must also have an understandiחת mediary fO d the unisono, therefore, symbol.ise for meמ t. Incidentally, the choreo - cluster, the l.ine a מ multi-moveme מunison and i ot only the striving for fratemity, equaJity andמ , aIly מ graphic cluster was to be found in Anna's work, before its perso - t ( the'tone cluster') became an important social hannony, but a1s0 the growing threat to man's inזmusicaJ couterp a ature מ t in modem music. Needless to add that today the dividuality - while the contrasts stand for the duaJ מ eleme choreographic cluster can be found in the work of many of the ind.ividual who is fighting for the right to express his - ves toward his inte זtity while at the same time st i מ choreographers of both modem dance and classicaJ ballet . own ide gration jnto society as a whoJe .

- choreo םמ d מ na Sokolow's identity as a creative artist, a מA .identity. is ex - LIGHTING THE SPARK מ grapher worthy of the name lacks such a erome Robbins evidently knew exactly what he was doingנ pressed not only in her overall approach to the structure of single movement when he approached Anna in the winter of 1953 with the זeve y מ the work. One finds her signature i , ng the Christmasholidays זd question: "What are you doing du i מ of movement a מ of each dancer, in the generaJ selectio a? Nothing? Th.en come to Israel with me. There you מ to the An מi מ d its integratio מ line, in the choice of mus.ic a usualמ d uמ original group of people, fascinating a מ choreography. The body of the dancer is the field wherein will find a With your נf 'InbaJ' and Sarah Levi-Tan .a !כ trasts of round l.ines versus - the members מ Anna creates significant CQ ts מ e מ become the expo מ es, they can SQOמ g discipliמ a niנtr מ angular and stmght ones. She develops transitions betwee contrasts and even presents contrasts simultaneously. But of israel ". these are never arbitrary contrasts or movements, but dif- ferent aspects of the same concept. The overaJ1 choice of movement is actually simple and perhaps closer to a person's It was clear to Robbins that this fighting artist, who at the aJ dance . time had aJready twenty years -of work to her credit - as a מ to traditio מ movements in everyday life, rather tha ofrhythm, tempo solo dancer and choreographer to dance groups, the theatre מ t nitioו But the clear artistic and metric de d energy of every movement and the particular nuances and musical comedies - could contribute cons.iderable to מ a cre2ted by the direction of the eyes, the position of the head Inbal and to the in general.·He knew, too, of • d fingers of her experience in education. in establishing dance groups מ d shoulders and the placing of the palms aמ a ce andמ the hands. give the movements an unmistakeable character . her knowledge of the techniques of both modem da מ the classical ballet. He was aJso aware of the appreciatio afforded her by Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera, Carlos g up theמ setti מmostly from the best Chavez and others, who had assisted .her i מ d expressive music, take מ Great a He realised .1939 מdance of Mexico i מ d of jazz (she was one of the first group of moaer מ repertoire of modern music a - ce which prompted her to apמ fist to use jazz fo r seriou5 dance compositions) is a charac - that the same sociaJ conscie -d to create choreo מ the thirties a מwo rkers' clubs i מteristic of most of Anna's works. But because she possesses pear i cept of choreographic graphies on such sl.j.bjects as juvenile delinquency , •A Strange מ scious co מ an independent and co the obvious formal aspects of American Funeral' ( about a worker killed by a stream of מס form, she does not depend music, as do many other choreographers. Her profound molten copper), 'The Murder of the Innocent' (about the מes Civil War in Spain), 'War is Beautiful' (the rise of Fascism i מ musical sense enables her to blend the choreographic li to a single pattern , Italy - 1937) would also make her react sympathetically מwith those ofthe musical composition i ergetically to the new society in Israel. Rightly he מ ed that one cannot distinguish and eמ twi מ ches are so eמ whose bra ed that this American artist, who stemmed fromמ y also imagiז. t directs the music or the contra מ whether the moveme But what distinguishes Anna Sokolow beyond everything an non-rel.igeous Jewish home and who had created works ' ed on Jewish themes, such as 'Exile' (1939), The Dog מ else is the fact, tbat although everything we have mentio , ographic ' Kaddish' 'Three Biblical Characters' (1946) and othersזso far refers to the realm of purely structuraJ cho e ot מ vaJues. she does not relate to them as such and tbey are not would inevitably strike a bond with Israel that could . tied מthe source of her inspiration . be u

38 a Shaham, Rena Gluck j Naomiמ g choreographers (Riמ And so the spark Ihat was set alight during that first meet - you t step toward changing the מ importa מ ing with the InbaI group has never gone out and the American AJeskovsky). It was a artist who returned to Israel every year and sometimes twice Israeli tradition of one-choreographer-companies lead by ing of the dancer's releaseמ a year s;nce (with the help of the America-Israel Culture a single creator, and the begin gle artist. This wasמ integral part of the dance world of from dependence on the work of a s.i מ Foundation) became a Israel . the first indication that there was a possibility of establish · . i Israelמ g a repertory dance theatre מi " They were wonderful" says Anna of the Inbal dancers , . uine about them מ there was something very speciaI and ge " I did not know there were Jews like than, who live in such These developments, in which Anna played a crucial role , aturally toמ ce in Israel and ledמ ged the climate of daמ a manner, or that they can create art in such a way ". cha ce group. Eliezerמ t daמ e מ ig a pennaמ the idea of esta,blish of the Board of the American-Israel מ Anna took on the role of midwife to the young dance Peri, the Chainna na with the מtheatre. She introduced them to an awareness ofbody and Culture Foundation at the time, approached A dance disciplines, she taught them Pfofessional vales of remark: "Why mouldn't you create a dance group here "? a liked the idea and agreed with enthusiasm, preparedמ public perforrnance and instilled in them a pride in artistic An ishment. She was their stern artistic governess ; a plan for action and present ~ d it to the board for their ן accomp loving and beloved, who went to great lengths for them and consideration. Among the members of the board was filled with hope, accompanied them on their first highJy Batsheva de Rothschild , who later established the 'Batmeva ' successful tour to Europe and the United States . and 'Bat-Dor' dance groups .

THE HISTORICAL TREND The trend away from modern Euro'pean dance (inherited " It was a revolution", according to Judith Gottlieb, "no from the pioneers of dance in Israel : the Ornstein sisters , one thought about dancers, at the time, but only about Gertrud Kraus, Katia Michaeli, Tehilla Roessler, Dvora creators_ The major support went to choreographers . Bertonoff and others) towards American dance techniques Although 'Inbal' wasalready in existence, no one understood which took place in the fifties with the appearance and that dancers wou ld have to be paid if a permanent group a's proposal was accepted. For the מ work of Rina Shaham and Rena Gluck , became more acute we re 10 be set up. An - cers were given independenl professמ and established by the end of the decade through dance first time, working da d ~ on May 24, 1962, the Lyric Theatre was מ classes which Anna hetd with the aid of the Ame rica-Israel ional standing a Culture Fund. These were given to dancers, others were fo rmed . held for you ng aclors - and and her work which appeared THE LYRIC THEATRE on the stage in 1958, 'A Soldier's Tale' (narrated by Arik . c Theatre presented four programmes ח Lavie; The Soldier: David Abraham; The Princess: Bruria The Ly Ev ie zer; The Devil: Juky Arkin), 'Poem', performed by the First Program - 1962 Dance Stage (Bamat Machol) and the choreography for Members ofthe Group : an by Avidom: 'AJexander the Hashmonai' (Israel Galia Gat, Liora Chachmi, Dalia Harlap, Ze'eva Cohen , Opera, 1959), not onJy established American techniques as , a Shacham, Rina Schenfeldמ Ri , מ Dalia Kimchi, Judith Ro the new dominant force in Israeli dance, but also clarified Ehud Ben·David, Itzchak Ben-Niss.im, Shimon Siani, Yigal to the younger generation of dancers and instilled in them Paz, Abraham Zuri, Joseph Kipnis . • re exacting discipline in the daily ninety ס the need for m minute class, in rehearsaIs and in public perfonnances, as ' e Treasure .וwell as the profound difference between improvisation and The program consisted of: 'A Solwer's TaIe ;' '11 and ;ח from a story by J .L. Peretz; Music: Nathan Mimo - dance composition . ' Dreams' all choreographed by Anna Sokolow .

It was Anna who advised the America-Israel Culture Second Program - 1962 Foundation (according to Judith Gottlieb - director ofthe Members of the group : Foundation at the time) to set up a single dance theatre for Galia Gat, Liora Chachmi, Dalia Harlap, Ze'eva Cohen , various choreographers. The importance of this was not Miriam Ferber, Ehud Ben David, Itzchak Ben Nissim , . Joseph K.ipnis ,ח c's duty to support ShJomo Dever, YigaI Paz, Abraham ZU ןy 10 emphasise that it was the pub j ןon

39 From the studio of Archipova, Katia Delakova, Rina ןriט: 'Dreams' and 'Four Jazz Suites' ; 'Opus '62' Shacham, Rena Gluck, Naomi Aleskovsky . ogra m - 1963זThinl P Members ofthe Group : Dalia & Galia: We studied with everyone we could. With , rud Kraus, Rena Gluck זh i , Judith Omstein, Mia Arbatova, Ge tנח Galia Gat, Dalia Harlap, Miriam Ferber, Liora Chac .Neeman, Leah Levin . and others מ oמ o, Abraham Zuri, Yaמ Moshe Roma

'Rooms', 'Suite No. 5' and 'Lyric Suite' Nathan: What was required of you at the auditions for the 'Lyric Theatre'. h Program -1964 זFout Anna: They had to dance and 10 read something. Choreographic Director: Anna Sokolow came 10 1 מ d wheמ ten a םו Asst. Director: Abraham Zuri Galia; 1 had to count from one umher 'ten'. And 1 rememher thalמ had to shout the 1 מ ist: Rina Shacham te זGuest At - ו o i ו in זI shouted with al1 my might. 1 really put my hea t . d danceמ Memhers of the Group : together with all my desire 10 get on stage a מ oanna Pel1ed, Yeno נ , ah amiז Ofra Ben Zvi, Gideon Ab . I was asked 10 come again מס uri: I failed. Only laterן .Neeman, Liora Chachmi·Zirlin, Abraham Manzour

?d 'Ode .' Nathan: What did you do every day מ Forms', 'The Question' a '

* Ruth : We studied elsewhere for two days. Only for re· hearsals did we gel together. n er memben: ofוו In the summer of 1978, a few of the fO hor. Here are a few of ז the 'Lyric Theatre' met with the au t times and at מ GaLia : The rehearsals took place at differe ah am Zuri, Galiaז the r~ marks made by Anna Sokolow, Ab differenl places. We worked in the studio ofKatia M.ichaeli , . gמ made at that meeti מ n aוו d Ruth Le מ Gat, Dalia Harlap a Hassia Levy , ' Inbal', in the gymnasium of the Levinsky Teachers Seminar . ? a ממg with Aמ was it like worki ן Nathan: Wha Nathan: Who looked after all the staging problems? GaJia: Work was sacred1 J was afraid to move.

d Arik (Galia's husband) saw 10 the lighting מ DaLia : Adam, a . thusiasticמ y e ן electric shock! We were terrib מ Zuri: Like a We worked like horses . GaJia: Everyone did something. GaLia: That was the life! . edמ Ruth: 1 iro Nathan: Were Ihe dancers of the ' Lyric Theatre' different ?nוו Nathan: Where did you perfo ? the Un.ited State מ I have worked with i ו from dancen: yO

places where מuri: We danced everywhere. We danced iן Anna: Yes. They were Israelis. Like ' Inbal' dancers, they d appear today. We danced on tables tied ן no group wou had insufficient technical training. They had some ballet oor, on stacks ofת together with rope, on concrete, on the nan school and from folkוו and came from the Israeli-Ge , ced in , Jerusalem, Haifaמ hay. Of course we da dancing. But because of this, they were open 10 new ideas , , Ein Hod ,מ Nathanya, but also in the settlements of Kidro without a set of cliches. They were very talented, worked , Lahav , Afikim, Beth Zera, Kfar Witkin, Kiriat Gat . מ Tivo hard. and they came to dance and not to earn money . h a, Ayeletת Maayan Zvi, Hulda, Ma.abareth, Shuval, Dap Hashachar, Reshafim, Mesilloth, Sarid . Nathan: Actually. how did you come to Anna? Nathan: How were you received outside the big cities ? Ruth: Straight from Archipova. (Valentina Arcrupova, a .dancer, who taught at Haifa ). Everyone: Wonderfully - there was enthusiasm and joy מ Russia

40 Quietly, painfully) When 1 see that the movements) : מ Nathan: What speeial experi ences remain with you? Zu ce is wayward מ do not come from within, when the gla the movements of the ו rehearsals. The , and there is no justification fO ו Ruth and everyone: The work a ay, most oftheסdancing. T d ו k ow that it is noת partieularly 'Rooms' and 'Oreams .' hands - 1 dancers merely want to be beautiful - the dancing is cold . Dalia : The full and mared life . We we re li ke a family. gave us a degree of depth which stayed with us ון : Ruth Anna: They really worked together. There was no feeling when we were working with other groups as well . of competition - there were no slsrs. In my work, I avoid . tiating between the status of soloists and the groupת differe

­ ת Anna: (Continuing Zuri's remarks) There are better cO ?s זת Nathan : And the sad mome Ihe past , but the atmosphere ת i מ cer tha ת s for the daת ditio ess ת aura of competitive ת is not what it should be. There is a ced that auditions were going to beת When they annou : מ Zu pssib]e to give. They think ofס ot of giving all that it isת and held for the 'Batsheva' company , the Lyric Theatre was still . ceת ificaמ d its sigת ce a ת careers, salaries, more than ofthe da at work. We were all tense and kept quiet. We didn't talk to t respect for the actua] wo rk . The ת t sufficie 'ת There iS one another about it and did nol know who would go to cept of their purposeת O clear cOת ce groups have ת various da the auditions . ow why he dances with a תcer must kת or their aims. A da dת look arou 01ת particular group. The choreographers do dת dscape or to Iife arouת them - they do not relate to the la people, about ו cing abouמ ou are daץ ! na them. Remember מGalia : (Apologel icall y) We didn't work enough . Until A ! ouץ ? came on her annual visit , we were like a berd without a humanity. Who or what is humanity shepherd . And along came a promise of work with known those of the זס , a Sokolow's expectations מתintemational choreographers. It was difficult for me - it Not all of A was a sort ofbetrayal. I wrote a ]ong letter to Anna and she dancers or the Israeli dance world, were fulfilled in the understood ! ' Lyric Theatre'. The reasons for this are evident from the remarks of past members of the group. The result was not a - t adminisת a efficieמ al establishment withת Nathan : Was the Batsheva group the only reason for dis­ fully professio continuing the work of the 'Ly ric Theatre'? tration, but a pioneering enterprise which was effeetive due ic beliefs, the persistence and ו pwer, the artisס to the will a Sokolow and some of תAמ Zwi: The general situation was difficult. We onJy received enonnous personaI efforts of . cersמ living the da ז a salary during half o( tbe year. We had to eam OU · ik's musi סGd מpssible, in the theatre iס d danced whenמ a caIs, with other groups. We could not bring other choreo - ts of the 'Lyric Theatre' are ת t aehieveme ת graphers from abroad and in the light of our e.xperience But the importa d developed dancers with highת ot want 10 work with Israeli eborco - unquestioned. It educated a ת a, we did ממwitb A graphers. Getting engagements was anotber problem. Oane - standards of technical ability and artistie integrity. It staged -choreographies, some ofwhich are considered as out ת ing (our or five times a year in Tel Aviv was the limit. There eleve ding works in the repertoire of internalional modem ת was no one dealing witb organisation or publie relations . sta ,ces of each of the programmesמ ce. Thirty performaמ Support from the Ameriean-Israel Culture Foundation stop - da y critieaI articles about theמ d ma ת ped as soon as 'Batsheva' was formed. The dancers in the newspaper coverage a dמ awareness of the dance a ת fourth program reeeived no pay at 811 . Rehearsals bad 10 be performances, brought about a held in the foyer of the 'Chamber Theatre' on a stone floor . enlarged the audiences for dance performances. New values The premiere itself was held on a Friday at five in the and critieria were applied to choreographic works. And in , baI' were at work מaftemoon . 1963, not only the 'Lyric Theatre' and 'I a Shacham, Renaמ but aI so dance groups such as that of Ri Nathan: What did working in the 'Lyric Theatre' give you? Gluek, Naomi Aleskovsky and Rina Scheinfeld, and dancers of the ' Lyric Theatre' worked with aU of them. Anna Ruth: Criterions for everything that happened afterwards. Sokolow's 'Lyric Theatre' not only provided the impulse to establish other danee groups, but also handed down to GaL.ia & Dalia : Values! Depth! them some of its best daneers . ., ANNA AND ISRAEL Israel, it would appear that her creative activities haye.reach . ee choreogtaphJes for זion to the th ו In addi .ו ed a summ.i " s ו ribution to modem dance has ' Batsheva' in 1973; "In Memory of No. 52346". "Deser ו Anna Sokolow, whose con 1978 מed and esteemed in her own and "Potm" in 1977, she re-created "Rooms" ana i ו been recognised, apprecia ". d "Dreamsמ f usic of Charles lves" aיcountry (Dance Magazine Award, 1961), was sent on an " Scenes from the f sheva' have become ו official cultural mission to Eastern Europe and China and With these serious compositions, 'Ba . ' h honorary doctorates from Brandeis University the spiritual heir ofthe 'Lyric Theatre ו endowed wi and the University of Ohio in 1978, awarded grants and ant foundations, had her works The other dance companies performed works by Anna thisזscholarships from impo 1 · ce Workshop perform תperformed by innumerable companies. For her, Israel was year. Flora Custunan's Jerusalem Da something of a revelation. Her Jewish consciousness, based ed "The Lyric Suite" and the Kibbutz Dance Group, prmier· ment of זs from the Dance Depa 1 ו on any ed "Two Poems". Studen ו past and no ו an ו only on an inner scnse for the dis " ion and Answer ו radition or culture, provided the Jerusalem Academy prepared "Ques ו , knowledge of the religion s of her last year and this year, a s.imilar group performed " Homage ו a foothold for her constant seeking of the roo rud Kraus" (with.in the frame·work of an appearance זists to Ge 1 זpersonality and identity among the intellectuals and a 1 s of by 'Batsheva' group). In 1979 ~ na created "By the Water ו of Israel. In her own words, "1 discove red the roo Jewish spiritual nobility, the positive element in the stubb ~ rn of Babylon" and "From the Song of Songs" for a specia1 y perfonnance during the Intemational Seminar on .. The ו Jewish character". The people, the landscape and the qualJ of Israel became an indistinguishable part of her make up Bible in Dance ." •·.s", "Dreamsזand some of her works (such as "Dese 1 " Song ofSongs" "Question without Answer", "Two Poems " The culmination of her activities in Israel will occur in the based on the work of Leah Goldberg), could not have-been summer of 1979, when an idea she has been thinking and uence of this country. There is dreaming of, for a long time will materialise . The 'Haifaח created save under the in no doubt that Israel not only provided Anna with rewarding Municipal Theatre'. the Batsheva dancers, the poet and playwrite Israel Eliraz and the Jerusalem composer Mark ו, ן cultural material but also served to explain her ability ines' of tlle Kopitman will collaborate with Anna in recreating the ו suffer her unending battle with the 'Ph.ilis dance' world and her unswerving adherence to her artistic image of Hanna Szenes on stage - "Wings" aims . Anna Sokolow, Isr4!lel, and the vision ofher 'Lyric Theatre', Today, after twenty·five years of permanent contact with will be joined together in one focal point. D

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