Grooving Gaga style

Grooving Gaga style

Advertisement

Dancers from the Batsheva Dance Company warm-up backstage before a show.

The Company was formed 50 years ago by Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild. They perform some 250 shows annually, both in Israel and abroad, making them one of Israel's most prominent dance companies.

. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Choreographer Ohad Naharin, artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, stands next to dancers during a rehearsal at their studio.

Naharin, who developed the movement language 'Gaga' in response to a back injury, incorporates it as the Batsheva dancers’ main form of training.

Gaga’s spiralling moves connects humour and conscious and unconscious movement to explore the body’s ability to move away from uptight and rigid poses.

1 / 13

Slideshow

A dancer stretches on a staircase.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

A dancer stretches on a staircase.

Another warms up during a rehearsal.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Another warms up during a rehearsal.

Batsheva Dance Company’s dancers work without mirrors so they become more aware of their form, according to Naharin.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Batsheva Dance Company’s dancers work without mirrors so they become more aware of their form, according to Naharin.

The Company describes Gaga as an experience of freedom and pleasure.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

The Company describes Gaga as an experience of freedom and pleasure.

A dancer lies flat on the floor.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

A dancer lies flat on the floor.

Two others chat during a rehearsal.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Two others chat during a rehearsal.

Dancers take a break. Although the routines can be physically challenging, Naharin said the dancers are aware of the connection between effort and pleasure, and learn to “love [their] sweat.”
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Dancers take a break. Although the routines can be physically challenging, Naharin said the dancers are aware of the connection between effort and pleasure, and learn to “love [their] sweat.”

Dancers watch a show from backstage. Every year, over 75,000 spectators come to see their shows.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Dancers watch a show from backstage. Every year, over 75,000 spectators come to see their shows.

Together with its junior Batsheva Ensemble, the Company has 34 dancers gathered from Israel and abroad.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Together with its junior Batsheva Ensemble, the Company has 34 dancers gathered from Israel and abroad.

The Gaga movement, which is used in training, helps dancers reconnect with their bodies.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

The Gaga movement, which is used in training, helps dancers reconnect with their bodies.

Naharin said it allows people to discover the power of the imagination.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Naharin said it allows people to discover the power of the imagination.

A dancer sits on a chair.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

A dancer sits on a chair.

Dancers leap over chairs and throw jackets in the air during rehearsals.
. TEL AVIV, Israel. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Dancers leap over chairs and throw jackets in the air during rehearsals.