GAGA WORKSHOP

Instructor: Iyar Elezra
Wed June 7th – Sun June 11th, 2017 at 10am – 1pm
Zodiak studio C4
The workshop is full. Please, contact elina.ruoho-kurola@zodiak.fi

Gaga is the movement language that was developed by Ohad Naharin throughout many years, parallel to his work as a choreographer and the artistic director of Batsheva Dance Company. The language of Gaga originated from the belief in the healing, dynamic, ever-changing power of movement.

Gaga classes are predicated on a deep listening to the body and to physical sensations. The instructions are deployed to increase awareness of and further amplify sensation, and rather than turning from one prompt to another, information is layered, building into a multisensory, physically challenging experience.  While many instructions are imbued with rich imagery, the research of Gaga is fundamentally physical, insisting on a specific process of embodiment. Inside this shared research, the improvisational nature of the exploration enables each participant’s deeply personal connection with the language.

Gaga provides a framework for discovering and strengthening the body and adding flexibility, stamina, agility, and skills including coordination and efficiency while stimulating the senses and imagination. The classes offer a workout that investigates form, speed, and effort while traversing additional spectrums such as those between soft and thick textures, delicacy and explosive power, and understatement and exaggeration. Participants awaken numb areas, increase their awareness of habits, and improve their efficiency of movement inside multilayered tasks, and they are encouraged to connect to pleasure inside moments of effort. The language of Gaga is in a continual process of evolution, and the classes vary and develop accordingly.

Gaga has two tracks: Gaga/people and Gaga/dancers. Gaga/dancers classes are open to professional dancers or dance students. These classes last for an hour and fifteen minutes and are taught by dancers who have worked closely with Ohad Naharin. Repertory class gives dancers an opportunity to learn excerpts of Ohad Naharin’s choreographic works and to apply their training in Gaga to the repertory.

Schedule:
10.00am-11.15am Gaga/dancers class
11.15am-11.30am break
11.30am-13.00pm Ohad Naharin's repertory

Ohad Naharin has been hailed as one of the world’s preeminent contemporary choreographers.  As Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company since 1990, he has guided the company with an adventurous artistic vision and reinvigorated its repertory with his captivating choreography. His works have also been performed by prominent companies including Nederlands Dans Theater, the Paris Opera Ballet, Les Grand Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Compañía Nacional de Danza (Spain), Cullberg Ballet (Sweden), Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet (New York), and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (New York). Naharin is also the originator of an innovative movement language, Gaga, which has enriched his extraordinary movement invention, revolutionized the company’s training, and emerged as a growing force in the larger field of movement practices for both dancers and non-dancers.