I'ee years afteI' its ן yeal' as the Israel Ballet, tl , pany Batsheva was established ןן ior cOI ןsel Two years later, in 1969, a thil'd modern dance porary ןן gl'oup was born, The Kibbutz Contel ,Y ן pal ןן Dance COI

e IS I'ael Classical Ball et Company started ןTI out as The Holon Classical , polsky drove ןן Holon Mal'kman and Yal ןן FI'ol R u t h E s h e 1 established in ISI'ael as early as the 1920s, but daily to collect theil' two dancel's, who had left e 1950s only the Opera Ballet with them, to I'ehearse on a ן ced in tl ן classical ballet was dal al1 wooden stage in a community centre ןןstill widely I'egal'ded sl ןel ן e opera and was tl ן d Hi ll el at tl ן polsky al ןןWhen Bel'ta Yal , eal' Tel Aviv ןe I ן isfit, ln 1967 they decided to leave tl ןןMarkman named their company "The as a I pany ," Israel Opel'a Ballet and establish theil' own ןן ISI'ael Classical Ball et COI ieI'e in ןן ent of company , The Holon Ballet held its fil'st prel ןן aking a statel ןןthey wel'e I an ןןpolsky and Markl ןן ISl'ae li Janual'y 1967, Yal ןintent, They wanted al Romeo and Juliet" and " ןן was danced duets frol ן ce Theatel', whicl ן bal Dal ן company - based in Israel with ISl'aeli Bal'l'ing II the early 1950s, all Sel'ge Lifar's "Don Quixote" and the I'est of the ן existence il ן d one all'eady il ן cel'S and chol'eogl'aphel's, al ן dal ow consisted of Dolin's "Pas de Quatl'e" and ןed Isl'aeli dance gl'oups came sl ןat will be devoted to the classical othel' establi sl ן tl usic by Anton ןןan's "Intel'play" to I ןן e 1960s - Bat Dor the same Mal'kl ן fOl'm of ballet, Many al,tists name into being in tl , selv es, but Gold ןן el ן their companies aftel' tl polsky it was ןן with Mal'kman and Yal diffel'ent - they wanted to establish a Yampolsky gave aftel'noon classes - four ours each time - in ןational company of thefil'st ol'del ' aftel'noons a week, six I ןI ake a ןןat would show ballet to its best , gym I'ooms at local pl'imal'y schools to I ן tl g, She prepared with the pupils the ן li vil ce ("you cannOl ן school's end of tel'm pel't'ol'mal

imagine how misreable it was to coach kids who couldn't cal'e less fOl' dancing"),

The Holon Ballet Company was not easy to sell, Armed with reviews, Markman used to go to various cultural functionaries hoping to ances, and over the ןן tel'est them in pel'forl ן il eet and nurtLlre weekends both woul d go aboLlt looking for ןןI local demand fOl' classical stages on which to put up a show, However , d be nurtuI'ed by it when they did finall y get to pel'fol'm they got ן ballet al in I'eturn , good pI'ess coverage and the public liked ,ןןthel

e article outlines the ן TI twenty eight year long The Tel Aviv pI'emiel'e took place on the eve history of the company in the of the 1967 war, befol'e a house full of women obili zed, Among the ןןcontext of the Israel i dance the men had all been I scene and analyzes the extent to audience was Gertrud KI'aus, the high priestess Israel in the ן ce il ןEUI'opean dal ןodel'I ןןwhich it has realized its aims , of I polsky ןן1930s and 40s, She encoul'aged Yal and Mal'kman, and unlike many of their Ot enqLlil'e why a successful dUI ןThe First Years - 1967-1975 coll eagues did I decided to return to ISI'ael, By her own request e the budding company's ןןshe becal ן polsky and Mal'kmal ןןThe duo Yal spent the 1950s outside Israel , confidenti al advisol' , dancing in such famous companies as the Ball ets Russes and the Fokine When it became cleal' that they would not Ballet, but always dreaming of be sponsoI'ed in any way by the Holon establishing a classical ballet municipality, the company moved company in ISI'ael, When they decided "e "GURRELJEDER ן to l'etuI'n they naturally appI'oached tl ISI'ael Opera Ballet, where they CHOR.: BERTA YAMPOLSKY subsequently danced as soloists for two DANCERS: ORNA KUGEL 71 yeal's, Modern dance was well AND BRUNO VERZJNO t was time to ן ". I·ecognition encouI·aged US d ר d Yampolsky aI ר e I·epeI·toiI·e aI רtl רwideI dance רoderI חe leading I רlike tl , ר aI חMaI·kI gI·OUpS of the day, had to I·eSOI·t to hiring . OI·eog I· apheI·S ר fOI·eign CI

רinance of E UrOpeaI ח As a reaction to the dOI bal let in Israel in the yeaI·s 1920-1964, that tent and very li ttle on ר e COI רfocused on tl SI·aeli dance wOI·ld in the 1960s ן technique, the aI·d on the danceI·' s body רd 70s wOI·ked veI·y I ר aI . the way of aI·tistic creativity ר blIt did little iI ר odeI·I חg I ר eI·s weI·e pI·oduciI רFew choI·eograpI e classical ballet, and theI·e was ר dance and nOI SI·aeli ן ong חferioI·ity aI ר a geneI·al feel ing of iI , g and cI·eative a.rtists in the field ר peI·foI·m iI paI·ed themselves to colleagues חey cOI רtl ר eI ר wl abI·oad .

polsky appI·oached Janine רר d YaI רan aI חMarkI ose work "Les Liens" had רChal·rat, wl ee נpressed them in BI·ussels. Within t ·h רר iI and cI·eated חe pI·oduced a duet for theI ר weeks sl . e" for the company רChaconI "

polsky discoveI·ed חan and YaI ח When MaI·kI ceI·S they went looking ר OI·e daI חthey needed I for them in the USA and Canada. In 1967 Bat OSt of its graduates חto Tel Aviv, to become fi nally The Israel "BORN AGAIN", CHOR.: BERTA YAMPOLSKY Dor opened a studio, but I itself or with ·ו iI·ed a f)O OI· DANCERS: NA'AMA YADLIN AND KEVIN CUNNINGHAM pI·eferred to dance with Bat DO רClassical Ball et Company. They I in an apartment building, had a paI·q uet Batsheva, both of which enjoyed lavish De eight of fashion but then Rothschild support and could hire the best רsing. But the jumps that today is the I ·ו installed and started rehea , apheI·s in the field ·ו the middle of nowheI·e, Kikar teachers and cho I·eog ר ove was iI חו s and they had to ·ו disturbed the neighbou .join The ISI·ael Ballet רagain . ha'Medina. Again they built a parquet, opened rather thaI eds of·ו king. "Hund ·ו a school and staI·ted wO cy paid the fare and board of רom all oveI· the countI·Y" , says The Jewish AgeI ·ו In 1970 Yampolsky's father helped them pupils came f ed five the Jewish danceI·s they "impoI·ted" and their · ו be ח e company nUI רpolsky. "TI ח pUI·chase a place of theiI· own in a part of town YaI dancers. We received token assistance to the salaries for the first few months of

t heI·e. During theiI· tour to I·ecruit ר ely employmeI ·וof two thousand pounds, which was ba ח ", ACT 11, CHOR.: PERROT SUI"

polsky went to ח d YaI ר an aI ח cers MarkI ר for one pI·oduction, but the new daI רDANCERS: EREZ DROR AND MARCIA ZUSSMAN enougl the pel'fol'lnance of The company that was cl'eated with no external Maturity, 1975-1985 's "Midsulnmel' Night's assistance was not only subsisting but Dream", with Edward Villela and Suzanne beginning to thrive, lt had its own studio and An invitation to participate in the 1975 1srael Farrell, They presented themselves as school and though it still depended on Festival marked a new stage in the at the imported dancel's and foreign choreography, it development of the 1srael Ballet, 1t meant ך managers of the ISl'ael Ballet, whicl g had hopes of changing that, In the meantime I'ecognition and gave them courage to ask for ך cludil ך time nUlnbel'ed five dancel's il themselves, They got excellent tickets but it began to be sought after, received good "" from Balanchine and "Electrobach" Ot Inuster enough notices and pel'fol'med before full houses, from Felix Blaska for the gl'and occasion, In ךaftel' the show they could I courage to addl'ess Balanchine and only wl'ote two weeks Balanchine sent word to the him a lettel', This lettel' was to stand the affirmative, only stipulating that Pat Neary company in good stead in yeal's to COlne, It appl'ove the production and the standard of the touched the gl'eat choregrapher's heal't and he company, Neary's account was complimentary let pel'forlnance I'ights and the production was on its way, In order to נ later gave the Israel Ba ets free of chal'ge, among pel'form "Serenade" the company needed ננof some of his ba certo additional dancers, Again they went looking ך them "Serenade", "Pas de Trois", "Col Bal'occo", "Agon Pas de Deux", "Foul ' for theln abroad, The importation of dancers, Tempel'aments" and " ," especially as most of them did not stay to live in ISI'ael, began to leave its mark on the image Markman and Yampolsky retul'ned fl'om the of the Israel Ballet, g theln ך cel's (amol ך USA with seven new dal and including themselves (ך Pamela Ossel'mal . cers ך ine dal ךtheir company then numbel'ed I t- ך The 1Sl'ael Ballet changed ovel'nigl technically it improved enormously, but the asses and !'ehearsals were conducted in נ c ed wel'e ך English and all the works perforn ol'dered from abl'oad ,

It was time to widen the repel'toil'e again and After these two galas it was recognized at last so, for the company of nine dancers, Tod as a proper professional company and the Bolender produced "Still Point" (1974), Gene name was changed again to "The Israel Ballet" Sagan (who spent sevel'al years in Israel ) omitting the word "classic", New works were ננ Hi created "Sweet Agony" and " Pale Lotus " added to the I'epertoire, among them ( 1974) and Janine Chal'rat also continued to contribute, this time a wOl'k by the name of fille mal gal'dee" by "Repetition de Phaedre" (1974), Yampolsky's Joseph Lazzini, "Opus first choreography - "Symphonic Variations " 35" by Heinz Spoerli, ( 1974), to music by Cezar Franck, was also "Conflict" by Roberto produced at this time, The process was Trinchero, "Butterfly" by traumatic for Yampolsky - "1 was a beginner Rael Lamb, The soloists and one of the dominant dancers had no faith were still American - Pamela - ied the company against Osserman and Marcia Zussman ננ in my ability and ra as however, new Israeli dancers began joining נ me" - and she preferred to see herself stil a dancer and artistic manager first and the company, among them Nira Paz, Iris Gil­ foremost , Lahad, Erez Dror, Na'ama Yadlin, Orna Kugel, Maya Pevsner, Julia Shekhtman and Despite the setbacks, by the mid Yael Wexler, 1970s optimism seemed to be in order, In the end of the 1970s and beginning of the 80s a change of attitude towards local choreographers became apparent, The Israeli dance world began to grow out of its inferiority complex, Batsheva stopped employing foreign managers, who used to come with ready made works and think little of nurturing local choreographers, The company started ordering works from local artists (Oshra Elkayam, Rina Yerushalmi, Yair Vardi, Yaacob Sharir) and in the 80s most of its repertoire was the work of its own dancers,

"GURRELJEDER", CHOR.: BERTA YAMPOLSKY

DANCERS: NJNA GERSHMAN AND KEVJN CUNNJNGHAM • STfLL POfNT'

CHOR.: TODD BOLENDER

DANCERS: PAMELA OSSERMAN

ץ AND HELEN GLAMB

the company, on its attention to detai 1, the ensemble and the style, The weak point, according to the critics, was lack of stars and sense of Vil'tuosity, From the USA they went on to Chile to participate in an international competition and Yampolsky cal'ried hOlne the trophy for Best Foreign Choreography for her " Dvorak Variations " ( 1981), A II in all the cel'S had a vel'y good nine week tOUl' and ר The Kibblltz Contempol'ary Dance Company of pl'inciple to encoul'age dancel's to develop 25 dal ce in 1984 in Canada and ר e expel'iel ר tO cl'eators and to elnploy local I'epeated tl ר il ר underwent a similal' change of heart and evel g in the pl'estigious Reggio ר in the ISl'ael Ballet progl'amlnes some local chol'eogl'aphel's as fal' as possible, the Israel the USA, endil , ilia Festival in Italy רר We wanted EI " :ר names began to appeal' such as Shal'il' Ballet lagged behind, Mal'kmal d they ר Hommage to Jerome Robins" 1976); Val'di to encourage Israeli chol'eogl'aphel's al" ) ISl'ael they were again without ר d yet il רFrom Foul' Winds", 1981 and "Four pl'oduced nice wOI'k , but they wel'e model'n AI" ) Seasons", 1983); Naomi Aleskovsky ("New chol'eogl'aphel's, We exhausted this vein and studio and school, having had to give up their ' a abode due to neighbours ר Sounds of Debussy", 1978; "Contl'asts " , 1979 went on", The company started to pl'oduce the Kika.I' ha'Medil ts, From 1979 they again moved ר e second act of "Swan cOlnplail ר and "The Daughtel' of Yiphtach", 1981); DOlni gl'eat classics (such as tl e gym hall to anothel' and froln one ר OI רר Soffer Reiter ("Romances", 1976); Alnil' Lake" and of "Giselle", "Raymonda" and fl'OI Kolben ("Sand Reminiscences", 1986) and " Paquita"), continued to ol'del' wOl'ks abroad hil'ed apal'tement to the next, leaving behind , t them a stl'ing of costly parquets ר and built llP Yampolsky as l'esidel רseveral dances wel'e being produced by its OW I dancers (Deena Laska, "Petel' and the Wolf;" chol'eogl'aphel,' Erez Drol', "The Dreaming Box"; ballet mistress Roseline Subel, "Lizzie Borden ,)" The Israel Ballet went on its first tOUl' to Fulfilment and Frustration 1985-1995 Amel'ica in 1977 with works by Sagan , However, whereas in the Kibbutz Dance Spoerli and Lazzini, In the second tOUI', in By dint of theil' devotion and their struggle to Company and in Batsheva it became a matter 1981 , they danced "Serenade" and some of survive against al l odds Markman and Yampolsky's new creations, The notices were Yalnpolsky seem to have realized quite a few

AfR VARDfץ :. FOUR SEASONS", CHOR' e aims they set their company, Two years רthe freshness of of tl ר g OI ר cOlnplimentary, relnal'kil DANCERS: JANE SANfNG AND AMf DASKAL before its 30th birthday the company boasts (1991) and "Gurrelieder" (1994): not mentioned by name (Due to this interview 35 dancers; today, mostly immigrants from The qLlestion always I"emains - why not order in the new programme for the performance of the former Soviet Union, rather than from the more works from local choreographers? "The Nutcraker" credit has been given to all USA. In the late 1980s the soloists were Markman and Yampolsky feel that to compare the performing dancers). Wendy Lucking-Shapira and Na'ama Yadlin. them with the modern dance groups in this Recently they were replaced by Nina respect is not fair because "it is easier to be a The 1srael Ballet is still not the first choice of Gershman and Orna Kugel. Today's male modern choreographer" and because "only good local dancers, graduates of dance soloists are Kevin Cunnningham, Peter Sabli some one who has done pointework himself schools. Markman and Yampolsky attribute and Bruno Vazinu. Currently the 1srael Ballet can produce classical ballet". Be that as it this to professional jealousy on the part of the performs in the celebrated new Arts Centre in may, it is more than a decade since the teachers: "1 managed to establish my own Tel Aviv. All its performances sell well and company performed anything by a local company. They don't forgive me for this", the company is very much sought after for choreographer. Markman: "We are struggling thinks Yampolsky. morning performances before school to survive, how can we think of taking on audiences. They had had very good notices guests?". But thel"e is more to it than that. It is also true that today it is easier for dancers after their foreign tours with special regard to Programmes of the company reflect their to seek their place abroad than it used to be Yampolsky's aesthetic and romantic attitude to the local choreographers whose and many do so, especially since, when there productions, the company's ability to carry works the company has performed. Their is only one company of its kind in Israel, the well Balanchine's works and the standard of its names are not on the list of the dancer is more dependent on it and that tends soloists. choreographers who have produced works for to put applicants off. the company. The same is However, they have also met with setbacks, true for i ts dancers - The 1srael Ballet does not take part in the most frustrations and disappointments. The Israel beautiful pictures of important ballet event in Israel - the Mia Ballet still has no studio of its own, and Yampolsky' s Arbatova competition. Yampolsky again without a proper place to practice in, a school productions decorate speaks of lack of sympathy for The Ballet on of their own is of course out of the the programmes but the part of the organizers of the competition, question. but Markman says it is too time consuming for the company, with all its other difficulties. From the mid 1980s Yampolsky has to pl'epare a dancer for the competition and dominated the company's repretoire with I'isk losing him or her if they do well there. ballets such as "The Nutcrucker" (1985), "Cinderella" (1986), "The Sleeping Beauty" In two years The Israel Ballet will celebrate its (1987), "Harmonium" (1988), "Two by Two 30th birthday. 1 believe it is still not too and Everyone" (1989), "Romeo and Juliet" late to initiate choreographical workshops to discover local talent, show more respect to the colleagues who have not created a company perhaps but are nevertheless doing well teaching the new generation of dancers, and participate in general dance events. These may warm the heart of the establishment towards the Israel Ballet and make it more attentive and sympathetic to its needs.

The managers of the Israel Ballet are not growing any younger. Should they fail to cultivate a new generation of dancers, their life work may no survive them. ם

"ROMEO AND JULIET"

CHOR.: BERTA YAMPQL$KY

DANCER$: WENDY LUCKING (JULIET) AND

GEORGINA YACOBY