No spring chickens, aging dancers add wrinkle to new ensemble
Group of performers over the age of 40 set to premier original work, ‘Four Fathers,’ at Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Growing old isn’t easy; for dancers, aging can often mean becoming the teacher, rather than the performer.
Four dancers are turning the tables on that dynamic with a new ensemble geared toward dancers over 40.
The ensemble, which does not yet have a formal name, will perform their new work, “Four Fathers,” on April 1 and April 2, at Tel Aviv’s Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater.
Choreographer Michal Samama created the work for four dancers, Talia Paz, Sharon Zuckerman Weiser, Moshe Shechter Avshalom, and Tamar Shelef, based on stories of their fathers.
Samama uses body language, words, sounds, songs, costumes, and even sunflower seeds to bring to life the four dancers’ fathers.
It is part of this new ensemble, which aims to create a new artistic home for dancers over the age of 40, said Paz, who co-founded and directs the ensemble with Shechter Avshalom.
“There are many wonderful older dancers who continue to choreograph and dance,” said Paz, following a recent rehearsal. “The idea here is not to have a choreographer who creates and invites dancers to perform her work, but that the initiative comes from the dancers themselves.”
“I was missing an artistic home,” added Paz. “This is a place where I can be with people who have had similar experiences.”
The four dancers and Samama were finishing up a rehearsal on Thursday in one of the Suzanne Dellal studios, its arched windows overlooking the red-tiled roofs of the surrounding Neve Tzedek neighborhood.
After Shechter Avshalom had scattered sunflower seeds as part of his character, he and other dancers worked together to gather them up.
It was a reminder that this is a bunch of grownups working together.
“All of us have the perspective of time and experience but this dance allows us to continue to learn about our work in this communal space,” he said.
Shechter Avshalom said he began considering the idea about four years ago after he turned 40. He teaches dance and choreography in several troupes but wondered what would interest him as a performing dancer.
Shelef, who has lived in Paris for most of the last 30 years, said she was tempted by this particular group of dancers, and by the opportunity to be in Israel during the ongoing war, to be near her loved ones.
Zuckerman Weiser had worked with Shechter Avshalom before, and the opportunity to do so again was a draw.
“There are not many people I’m interested in dancing with, but this sounded interesting,” she said. “We all have similar mindsets, experiences with parenting, with life, all of our various lives.”
They also each have their aches and pains, noted Zuckerman Weiser.
“It’s hard because dancing this work shows what we can’t do as easily any longer, we have to deal with our bodies,” she said.
“That’s right,” said Paz, “each of us has something that hurts, or something we can’t do, like getting down to the ground, or lying this way or that.”
Some16 years separate the four dancers: Shechter Avshalom, the baby of the group, is 44 while its eldest member, Shelef, is 60.
“There are differences between us,” said Paz.
“But there’s a lot of strength in that,” said Shechter Avshalom. “It feels very powerful to me to work with this group that has so much experience and artistic depth.”
The ensemble will continue performing after the two “Four Fathers” performances, but the participating dancers will change with each dance piece.
“Each time, we’ll look for the right mix for the performance,” said Paz. “It’s our search for the unexpected, the surprising, and the curious that pushes us. It’s not the age as much as who and what.”
