interviews

 

there are emotions before movement

a year after leaving the batsheva dance company to find his own private voice, arkadi zaides returns to create for the junior company, within the frame of an evening of premieres at the end of the week, an interview with a thrilling creator at the beginning of his journey.

a year ago, arkadi zaides, a batsheva dance company dancer, decided it was time to open up to new places. within a group of individuals it is sometimes easy to get lost, and zaides, an outstanding voice in the company but yet a very personal man, seeking his own way. he packed a suitcase and traveled to europe for an indefinite period of time.

after three month he received an offer to participate in yasmeen godder’s new piece ‘strawberry cream and gunpowder, and at the same time to create a new piece for the batsheva ensemble, the junior company were he formulated. he packed his suitcase and returned home to begin working. this friday zaides will premiere ‘a way’ within an evening presented by the ensemble that will include osnat kelner’s ‘trillema’ and ohad naharin’s arbos.

what did you take from batsheva and what did you leave behind?

“that’s a difficult question, five year is a long time. i think that from life in the company i received the stage experience and professionalism, and from ohad naharin the sensitivity towards movement and nuances and precision of intent. regarding what I left behind, i think every person leaving a group leaves himself and what he brought with him, especially a group like the batsheva dance company, that consists of individualists that each has his own form of expression. each person leaves what he gives.”

you continued on. do you know where you’re going?

“that’s a question of my life. it’s never clear to me. every step i take raises dozens of questions and perplexity.”

is that perplexity part of the movement?

“i think so, movement starts from within. it speaks what i feel and the images i use with the dancers are on that level. my movement isn’t characteristic dance, there are no grand gestures, it’s not external bat rather an involuntary response to a mental process that begins as something small and then bursts out. there are emotions before the movement.”

your movement is bi-polar: very sharp, on the verge of mechanical and abstract on one hand, and very emotional on the other. there is distress together with softness. do you connect to that?

“yes. the mechanical aspect war very apparent in my last pieces ‘girl under tree’ and ‘11w white p.l.’. i think my movement has evolutionized. the current piece is much calmer. it changes when i change. i believe there are many more shades of emotions here.”

why have you chosen to call this piece ‘a way’?

“i feel i have traveled a long way with the dancers. the work process took us from one point to a totally different one. it has a double meaning – to move away from, and simply a way, a road. it connects to the place from which the piece was created, meaning a line that begins with lacking and then reaches perfection, stress that brings the resolution, like something closed that slowly opens up. the piece talks about people attempting to break their own patterns and undoubtedly presents my state of mind. i like to think it represents growth and development. this is an introverted piece compared to my other works mainly because i am growing. growth is done quietly.”

what is dance to you?

“i am constantly exploring that. It’s the most difficult question in the world, to which i do not have an answer. it’s a profession that connects body and mind, and when one is tired it reflects on the other. may be that's the reason i stopped and wanted to get away in order to answer that question. i haven’t found the answer yet but I have reached some balance.”

where there a specific moment you told yourself you are a dancer?

“i don’t call myself a dancer. i communicate with the world through movement and the most important thing is excitement. right now, for instance, before the premiere, i feel like I’m in labor. it’s a piece i have dissected for the last year and touched every aspect of it. it’s exiting, and it’s a reason to go on.”

until not long ago the ensemble was your home, and now you’ve been asked to create for it. how does it feel?

“i came to an unfamiliar ensemble. the dancers i worked with started with the ensemble after i left the company, so this was our first meeting. during the work process i wanted to close myself up with them in a vacuum, to get away from their day to day activities and to create something i have brought. it was important that i be close and we asked each other questions. it’s the result of improvisation and collaboration. i received a group of dancers and it was important for me to get exited with them, to create a form of communication that would result in the personal expression of each and every one. and it happened.”

what does it feel like to return to the company as a creator and not as a dancer who also creates?

“i’m still learning the mobilization thing. there is an expectation that the creator lead and it’s a big responsibility to hold rehearsals together and form something out of it. i speak my language to the dancers and want them to learn it. i try to transfer the intention behind the movement, and they have to connect to their inner place to find out where it comes from in order to dance as i meant.”

you make use of electronic music. what’s so appealing about that to you?

“what i am interested in is not a typical electronic music, but rather noise produced electronically and has less beats. there is something introverted about that, like changing textures, like layers and that excites me. i see the coordination between movement and sound and the music, if you can call it that – supports the movements.”

many of today’s creators use text in order to explain the movement. is there a fear that the dance will not be understood as it was created?

“no. i believe it will speak to who it’s suppose to, and then push the right button .if it doesn't, i hope the road is enjoyable. when you go to see a performance or movie you take in to account it may not speak to you and you may not connect to it. in dance it’s even more complex because it’s non-verbal.it’s a media you have to get used to, and after that happens you have to explore what side of it you most connect to.”

merav yodelevitch, ynet, december 2004, israel

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