GO
Premiere: Suzanne Dellal Centre, Tel Aviv, December 2017 and January 2018
On stage, a group of women bodies reveal the years that have been sketched upon them. Most of them danced as girls, but were required by their parents to stop as they grow up. These women started to dance again at an elderly age, challenging the common notion that sanctifies the younger body in general, and particularly in the dance world. GO is a manifesto for this body!
In GO a combat pilot, a ballerina and an ageing body move side by side. The relationships that are created and ruptured between the images and the physical body raise questions regarding presence, free will, coercion and domination. The work aims at expanding the discourse beyond the singular body on to our existence as individuals and a society.
Video Teaser: Eli Passi | Editing: Eli Passi and Galit Liss
Video: Oren Mansura | Editing: Eli Passi and Galit Liss
Choreography: Galit Liss
Co-creator and Rehearsal Director: Orit Gross
Performers and Co-Creators (in alphabetical order): Mor Chmura, Talma Dim, Varda Ginossar-Zakay, Hily Gobbrin, Orit Gross, Terry Kischinovsky, Naomi Yahel, Nurit Limor, Ada Naggar, Tamar Natanel, Zehava Noy Meir, Bina Reincort, Zipora Ram Fink, Shlomit Riv, Varda Seelig, Nava Shapira, Halina Shamshins, Tirza Shpanof-Many
Dramaturgy: Nataly Zukerman
Music: Avi Belleli
Piano: Roy Yarkoni
Light Design: Rotem Alroy
Sound: Moshe Shasho
Costume Design: Studio Iris Erlich, Noga Ram and Galit Liss
Performance Manager: Noa Dar
Photography and Video Trailer: Eli Passi
Graphic Design: Nurit Brande
Public Relations: Karnit Basson
Duration: 60 minutes
The performance was made possible with the kind support of Mifal Hapais (the Israeli Lottery Council for the Art), The Choreographers' Association, The Council for Culture and Arts, and other donors who requested to remain anonymous
REVIEWS
"Most of the power that resides in the image of 'old women pilots' stems from the fact that Israeli society is macho and militaristic, and being a pilot, even a former one, is considered a status symbol signifying being part of an elite. Liss' choice to place the women in this position is no less than subversive… the performance seeks to present these women as characters full of life and passion, rich in life experiences, and Liss does not fall even once into the trap of images that may ridicule the situation. The dance she created highlights the delicacy, fragility and power that can be found in the body at any age, if you know how to use it properly".
Dana Shalev, Erev Rav, 27.5.18
"Liss's choice is commendable… There are spectacular and stirring pictures here that bring together the medium and the message, the body that carries and leads the movement... In an attempt to connect the personal and the political (which are connected anyway) the evening was interwoven with stories, personal anecdotes of the participants… These were wonderful stories, important, often humorous and some even moving"
Tal Levin, Haaretz, 2.9.18
"I stopped dancing and thought it was too late to start again", says one of the ladies. And shows with her colleagues the most beautiful final scene that has been seen at this festival so far. Apparently, it is never too late. Also, not for getting stormy applause and standing ovation.
Neue Press, Hannover, 4.9.19
"Touching plea for a more soulful life... Stunning simplicity".
Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, 5.9.19