Noa Dar Dance Group

While moving through a labyrinth and multi-layered space, composed of sets and requisites selected from works she made over the course of twenty years, Dar traces the evaporating contents she created. The wrappings that defined the spaces in which her choreographies once existed, are present as archaeological evidence to the performances’ vanished qualities, and raises questions regarding their validity. Inventory moves between periods, vantage points and sites in which these creations are present both in the personal and the collective memory. This chaotic and fragmented act, dictated by memory’s fragility and multi-faced nature, rely on the tangibility of physical objects to decompose this body of work and weave its components into a new narrative.

This video is an excerpt of a full evening-length work.

Noa Dar is a choreographer and dancer whose rich body of work has been recognized for its originality, depth and unique language. Dar, born and raised on Kibbutz Degania, joined the Batsheva Ensemble at age 18. She relocated to NYC where she studied and performed, supported by a grant from Merce Cunningham. She returned to Israel as a founding member of the Tamar Company in Jerusalem. Before establishing her own group, Dar operated in Paris  as an independent choreographer, supported by the America-Israel foundation and the French government. Dar founded the Noa Dar Dance Group in 1993 with dancers and artists from various fields who together create an ever-evolving language, exploring relations between body, movement and observers \ participants. Her creations have been presented by leading festivals around the world and she has won many prizes, among them: the Municipality of Tel Aviv’s Rosenblum Prize for outstanding artist, Creation Prize from the Ministry of Culture for her body of work, and the National Lottery’s Landau Prize for her contribution to Israeli culture. She has created for BatSheva Ensemble, Muza Company, Be’er Sheva Theater, The Kibbutzim Chamber Orchestra, The Interdisciplinary Arena Theater and Transition Company in London. In 2006, she opened the Noa Dar Dance Studio, a home for creation, performance and practice, connecting dance with diverse communities. The company operates in the frame of the Choreographer’s Association, of which Dar was a founding member.