Their world is dark, seductive. The latest piece by the choreographer Sharon Eyal, her partner Gai Behar, and the company they founded together in 2013 in Israel, L-E-V, was inspired by a text by the poetry slammer Neil Hilborn: OCD. The abbreviation of “obsessive compulsive disorder” speaks of love under the sign of a neurosis. OCD Love plays with repetitions, errors, tics, and the experience of always missing the right moment. What proportion of obsessions can a lover cope with? How often does one endure rejections? Moments of physical and mental synchronization are created and fall apart again. The atmosphere of OCD Love is dark but not gloomy. Eyal, who ranks among the most important international choreographers and had already been a guest artist at DANCE 2015, says the work is like a dark stone in her chest that she forced out. Once again she is working according to the gaga method, which this artist, born in 1971 in Jerusalem, became acquainted with while working with Ohad Naharin and his Batsheva Dance Company. She was the in-house choreographer there for eight years; in the meantime, she choreographs for different companies, including GöteborgsOperans Danskompani. Intuitive, reflex-like movements, accompanied live by the pulsing beat from the musician Ori Lichtik, keep the hyperflexible bodies of the six dancers in a state of tension, which suddenly and eruptively explodes. Choreographer: Sharon Eyal Co-creater: Gai Behar Live music: Ori Lichtik Costume designer: Odelia Arnold, in collaboration with Rebecca Hytting, Gon Biran, Sharon Eyal, and Gai Behar Dancers: Rebecca Hytting, Gon Biran, Leo Lerus, Darren Devaney, Mariko Kakizaki, Keren Lurie Pardes Production: L-E-V
Tag: OCD
Neil Hilborn – Poet
Why do you think poetry and art in general is such an important outlet for so many people?
Lots of smart people have said smart things about this subject, so I’m going to go with Gwendolyn Brooks who said, “Poetry is life distilled.” For me, that’s always what’s been the most attractive about the art form. When I’m writing a poem I take all of my thoughts and experiences about a subject and try to relate them in as few words as possible. I think that a poem should tell you its story as succinctly as it can, and I think that’s what art does for people. It removes everything extraneous so that we can focus on the emotions and ideas that actually matter. Read the full article here