Batsheva Ensemble / Ohad Naharin Naharin's Virus

"Dear people
It was with much thinking and very strong feelings that I came to the conclusion that Naharin’s Virus is the right and better choice for our coming visit to Paris. As an artist and a human being I refuse to ignore the ongoing tragedy in our region. My body, the dancers’ body your body is the fortress of our love and the kind of movement and the quality of it is what set us free. It is with Naharin’s Virus that I feel the most honest, direct and that my research and discoveries as a choreographer has the clearest voice. Please accept this decision of last-minute change as a responsible and better artistic choice.
Thank you,"
Ohad Naharin

 

After discussions between the Batsheva Dance Company's artistic team and the directors of Chaillot and La Villette - in view of the current political context - it was decided to present Naharin's Virus instead of Anafaza, originally scheduled for July 25.
 

What is this virus made of that runs through the bodies of the performers and the audience? Is the theatre, as a place of performance, no longer just a place of illusion? Does time outside the auditorium become the same inside the theatre?
Almost 60 years after it was written, the Austrian playwright's text speaks to us of the urgent need to shake up the certainties of an increasingly complex world. Proclaimed by the dancers, the words are combined here with the power of gesture, the freedom of movement that is slow and round, fast and repetitive, wild and delicate.
A political piece created to traditional music, including that of Palestinian composer Habib Alla Jamal, as if to make a protesting presence even louder.