If you are looking for an interesting Summer Intensive program, you may want to consider this one. It’s located in Israel, and it is truly unique! Learn more about the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s 2018 Summer Intensive program, and visit their website for more details.
First, tell us a bit about Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and how the Summer Intensive was created.
Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (KCDC), founded by Yehudit Arnon in 1973 in Kibbutz Ga’aton, is located in the beautiful and historic Galilee of northern Israel, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Arnon’s vision was continued by Artistic Director and Choreographer, Rami Be’er, who has led the company since the mid-90’s and who’s works have been presented in some of the most prestigious stages worldwide for the last few decades.
The company’s based on the principals and ideals of elite performing arts, education, and community outreach. With that in mind, we establish our second company (KCDC 2) in the mid 90’s with the mission to expose contemporary dance to youth across Israel and internationally. With a similar initiative, we opened up our Summer Intensive nearly 10 years ago to both high school and university dance students from across all over the world.
What are your Summer Intensive classes like — meaning what types of classes are held, and what type of training is provided?
We offer an exciting and diverse curriculum at our Summer Intensive where dancers of all levels, from beginner to intermediate to more pre-professional levels, are able to study with Kibbutz company dancers as well as leading choreographers and dance teachers. Naturally, our Summer Intensive participants have the opportunity to delve into and study company repertoire. We also have an emphasis on contemporary dance, modern dance, ballet, choreography, jazz, hip-hop, Gaga technique, and other classes.
Where do you get your instructors for the Intensive? Can you give us an overview of some of the people who will be teaching?
Our Summer Intensive faculty is composed of main company and second company dancers along with ballet masters, established choreographers, international dancers and dance teachers who’ve dance with Israeli and international prestigious dance companies.
Korina Fraiman is a former Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company dancer, who then danced with the Batsheva Dance Company where she was trained as a Gaga teacher and offered Gaga dance workshops to our Summer Intensive students this past summer.
Oryan Yohanan is another former company dancer who’s considered today as one of Israel’s most respected and recognized solo artists, dance teachers, and choreographers, and has been a recipient of the Ministry of Culture & Sport’s Award for Performing Dancer of the Year.
Sara Wilhelmsson, originally from Sweden, studied at the Codarts University for the Arts (Rotterdam Dance Academy) in The Netherlands. During her studies and internship, she worked with Ton Simons, Bruno Listopad, Philipp Adams, André Gingras and Regina van Berkel among others. She danced in our main company, then with Yasmeen Godder Dance Company, and is currently working with Emanuel Gat (France) while teaching both in Israel and abroad.
Alexander Alexandrov, a top ballet master, is widely considered one of the leading teachers in the field of ballet in Israel. He is a graduate of the Dance Academy of Kiev, and served as a principal dancer at the Moldova National Ballet in Kishinev, Moldova. For more than two decades, he has taught some of the leading companies including Batsheva Dance Company, Inbal Pinto & Avshalom Pollak Dance Company, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and others. He also serves as head ballet master at The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and its adjacent high school. Alexandrov is a guest artist, and teaches ballet worldwide. He is also a member of the evaluation committee and competition ‘Outstanding Dancer’, and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
This Summer Intensive is held at the International Dance Village in Kibbutz Ga’aton, Israel. Would you share a bit about what it is like there?
The International Dance Village is truly a unique location unlike any other in the world. While most top dance companies are based in major urban areas, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s heart and home are in a kibbutz (a communal village). Over the years, the Int’l Dance Village has developed through the work and leadership of Artistic Director Rami Be’er, and today it offers 10 dance studios, a performing arts center and theater, a café and restaurant, a swimming pool, a social hall and much more. For dancers coming to study and live here; whether they’re company dancers or studying at our Summer Intensive, its really a dream come true and a place of inspiration, creation, community, and peace of mind.
What sets your SI apart from others? What is it that makes it special or unique?
The Summer Intensive program held by Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company is one of a kind for several reasons. First and foremost, it’s because it’s the only one taking place at an International Dance Village. This special dance place has a strong tradition of innovation in contemporary dance, as the founder, Yehudit Arnon, a Holocaust survivor, envisioned that the world could be better through a strong dance community. She founded the dance company and the International Dance Village in Kibbutz Ga’aton in Western Galilee of Israel in the 70’s. She collaborated with renowned choreographers such as Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Jiří Kylián, Christopher Bruce, Kei Takei, Susanne Linke, Hada Oren, and Oshra Elkayam with the purpose of keeping the contemporary dance community in Israel fresh and innovative. In this context, 10 years ago, the Summer Intensive was born to offer young dancers and high school students from all over the world the opportunity to discover a unique and innovative dance environment, where they could express themselves and evolve as professional dancers.
All the students that come to our Summer Intensive said that they gained a new family there, and besides learning a lot of impressive dance techniques from renowned teachers, they also felt a deep connection with each other, which was one of the best take-aways from the Kibbutz Summer Intensive. Young students get to live in the beautiful and inspiring International Dance Village along with Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s dancers and choreographers. They get to learn a lot of things from them while also seeing them perform live. It’s like no other place you’ve seen before.
Who should consider attending this SI, and how do they go about signing up?
High school students, dance academy students, dance enthusiasts of all levels, young aspiring dancers and any dancer in general, from any corner of the world is welcomed at the Kibbutz Summer Intensive. In the past we’ve had students from Africa, Asia, North & South American, Europe, and the South Pacific and they all had the same life changing experience in the International Dance Village. If you love dancing, you have to experience this at least once in your life.
Visit the website for the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s 2018 Summer Intensive.
Read more about this particular Summer Intensive in this interview on Dance Advantage.
Disclosure: 4dancers received compensation for publishing this sponsored post.
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