Batsheva Dance Company

Batsheva Dance Company returns to Northrop with artistic director Ohad Naharin’s masterwork, “Shalosh” (Three). Hailed as raw and elegant, violent and tender, the 70-minute work for 17 dancers includes three provocatively titled sections: Bellus (“beauty”), Humus (“earth”) and Secus (either “this” or “not this”), performed to music from Brian Eno and the Beach Boys to Bach’sGoldberg Variations.

Founded in 1964 by the Baroness Batsheva De Rothschild and Martha Graham, the Tel Aviv-based company has flourished under Naharin’s direction. Naharin trains his dancers in his own rigorous physical method called Gaga, a movement language designed to free the body while making it flexible, strong and self-aware.

Whether hurtling through space, assuming a precarious balance or elastically sculpturing their bodies, the dancers remain exquisitely attuned to one another, resulting in a breathtaking sensuality and emotional power. Naharin’s artistic integrity and innovation have earned Batsheva an accolade-wreathed reputation.

One of most riveting and sought-after dance companies in the world, Batsheva  presents works of exquisitely rendered complexity, and the sublimeThree is a work to linger over.

Critic's Comments

“[In] the mercurial, shape-shifting world of Ohad Naharin’s Batsheva Dance Company, dancers inhabit a vacillating physicality that takes them from human, to dancer, to animal, to machine, all in one phrase…. and it is genius.” Countercritic.com

Performances at Northrop

1995, 2004, 2009

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This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature. Funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Ford Foundation, and MetLife Foundation.Support for this performance of Shalosh (Three) is provided by Leni and David Moore, Jr. / The Moore Family Fund for the Arts of The Minneapolis Foundation. The Walker Art Center's Dance Season is sponsored by Gray Plant Mooty.