Roy Assaf
Figure No. 16

Circle. Triangle. Ark. Polygon. Square. Dot. Hexagon. Heptagon. Octagon. Star. Rhombus. Oval. Prism. Cube. Heart…
And Figure No. 16.

Figure No. 16 is a work for three dancers and a kite. Or, a dance for two couples in a series of 1000 beginnings. A dance that owes its life to Hokuto and Mariko, to Johannes in the 19th century, to Johannes in the 21st, to Glenn (meter be damned), to Roland, Neema and to Josef from Budapest, to love, to hate, to a child prodigy, to a monster, to a ghost, to adolescence, to a nervous breakdown, to a vase of flowers, to a bearded elephant, to a camel who swims in pond, to name a few. Figure No. 16 is a dance for a single spectator, the one person who decides its fate, and if it is even really a dance. 

Roy Assaf was born in 1982 in the rural community of Sde Moshe in southern Israel/Palestine. He has been dancing and creating for as long as he can remember. He broke his front tooth at the age of five while dancing on the slippery floor of his family home. At the age of six, he began giving tap concerts for his neighbor, who watched him dance on his concrete balcony from her window across the yard. From 1990 to 1996 he began creating and performing his own dances for monthly family gatherings in Jerusalem. In 1997, a morning performance by Batsheva – The Young Ensemble revealed to Roy his desire to pursue a career in dance. At the age of 16 he met Regba Gilboa, an educator, dance lover, and believer in people who rooted in Roy the confidence that dance is where he belongs. Between 1998-2000, endless hours were spent in her red Volkswagen, on the road to another show or workshop, Two years later he was drafted into the Israel Defence Forces (not a point of pride, but part of his past which cannot be denied), where, with vest, helmet and a rifle on his shoulder he danced through the 8-hour checkpoint shifts . In 2003, he met Emanuel Gat, with whom he went on a professional stage for the first time and put on a dress in public.  In 2005 he met Anat Inditzky, who to this very day loves him with all his drawbacks and disadvantages, and encourages him to face his fears. In 2010 he decided to face his fear and tried once again to make a dance of his own again, and since then he hasn’t stopped.

Choreography: Roy Assaf

Dancer & Co Creators: Ariel Freedman, Avshalom Latucha, Amitai Cohen

Light Design: Yair Vardi

Dressmaking: Haya Gaiman

Stage manager: Roni Argaman

Music Production & Editing: Reut Yehudai

Music: Four Ballades, Opus 10 (Johannes Brahms, performed by Glenn Gould)

 Water for King David (HaGashash HaChiver)

 Tango Konig (Juan Llossas)

“An invitation to perform”: Ohad Zehavi

“Words”: Roy Assaf, Ariel Freedman, Avshalom Latucha

Length: 65 min

With the support of the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport. This work is a co-production of the Sziget Festival.כ- 65 דק