Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company


The Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company is an internationally acclaimed dance company founded in 1970 by the Israel Prize laureate Yehudit Arnon, who served as its Artistic Director until 1996. In 1980, the choreographer Rami Be'er joined the company and since 1996 has been serving as the Artistic Director. The company's home is located in the International Dance, in Kibbutz Ga'aton in the Western Galilee of northern Israel and has become a renowned center for performing arts and dance education for dancers and dance students from across the world. The Village serves as an institution for movement dance and contemporary dance for all ages, and includes the company's Zichri Theater, a performing arts center, dance studios, accommodation for students and professional dancers, and regularly hosts tourist from abroad.

History

The company was originally named the Inter-Collective Dance Company. At the time, all of the group's performers were members of the kibbutzim. Due to budgetary constraints and the company's commitment to creative independence, all of its productions were based on the choreography of Israeli artists. The group's performances were originally considered amateurish, both for their low production quality and the company's dependence on local artists. During the group's early years, the company's performers included Yehudit Arnon, Ofra Achmann, Hada Oren, and Oshra Elkaym-Ronen. Arnon and Achmann frequently performed Ausdruckstanz, a form of expressive dance that remained popular in Israel until the mid-1950s.
In 1994, a second company joined the Kibbutz Company, called Kibbutzit 2, which mostly performs for young audiences, with performances such as "Peter and the Wolf", "The Animal Carnival", "K-butzit 360", and "Sipurei Kodemkol".
Some of the company's choreographers, including Shai Pertush, Itai Peri, and Lotam Regev, participated in the Israeli TV show Nolad Lirkod. Choreographers Liat Dror and Nir Ben Gal, who married shortly after their Israeli military service, began their careers in the company.

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