OVERVIEW

Ohad Naharin is one of the most important personalities of the contemporary world artistic scene, setting the direction, style, and shaping contemporary dance. His works are vivid, topical, and highly demanded by world dance companies. The famous dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov told the Israeli daily Haaretz: "Ohad connects the best dancers in the world. I never saw the combination of that kind of beauty and energy and technique."
Each work by Ohad Naharin is a surprise, but you can count on him to inspire you! The name Naharin has chosen for his work—Hora—is another tantalizing choice among enigmatic names Naharin is so fond of. "Hora" or "horo", (хоро in Bulgarian, oro in Macedonian, χορός in Greek) is a traditional folkloric collective dance originated in the Balkans, Romania, Moldova, and also Israel. Naharin does not deny a reference to national roots of Israel, but rules out any easy inference made on the basis of it. Naharin was simply drawn to the sound of the word, when realizing that the word carries different meanings in other languages—e.g., it means "an hour" in Spanish. "Hora" in Czech denotes to completely different meaning, and this is what matters to Naharin in a first place.
Naharin likened Hora to a pitch with eleven players, who follow their own rules. "I purposefully created many climaxes, and the climaxes have a weird rhythm. It's not an idea or story that holds it—it's a tension. The dancers are on stage the whole time. They don't leave the space."
Ohad Naharin selected several well-known classical compositions for the piece—famous melodies by Claude Debussy, Modest Mussorgsky, Richard Strauss and Edvard Grieg, including music from 2001: A Space Odyssey and the opening theme from Star Trek. The compositions take on a futuristic tone and original sound, when being modified by Isao Tomita, a pioneer of electronic and imaginative music.
Hora will be Ohad Naharin's very first feature production performed in the Czech Republic.
 
World premiere: 18 May 2009 - Jerusalem Theatre, Israel
Co-produced by Montpellier Danse 2010 and Lincoln Center Festival, New York

^{Photos courtesy of Batsheva Dance Company}