#maya brinner

[nofatclips]

Second Hand Lovers by Oren Lavie from the album Bedroom Crimes - Written and directed by: Oren Lavie

[adamkalderon]

Costumes and poster i designed for the brilliant choreographer Maya Brinner's show 'THE SHOW' on 2011.

Dancers: Maya Brinner, Shani Ben Haim

[tomlikesdance]

constant and shifting

Red Ladies, choreography by Maya Brinner

[fikirablog]

I'm the kind of person who doesn't buy a package of dates (even when I'm reeeeeeeally craving) if I see they're from Israel. I participate in Ahava boycotts and protests, and sent handmade peace flags to the March on Gaza (happening today, btw). This is to say I don't support colonialism, not to say I support Palestine, per se.

That was also to preclude the following acknowledgement: I am very ignorant of Israeli culture (and to an extent, Israeli history). I want to learn more! With respect to current conflicts, of course, but still! There is something about the chaotic and unintuitive flavor of modern Israeli arts that draws me in. A few of my good friends are Israeli and engage with me often on the topics of peace and tolerance, but today one of them recommended I check out this here Maya Brinner. (You see, I love dance. I love dancing even more, but yes, the human body in motion... *sigh*) Apparently there was an Israeli Modern Dance festival in the city not too long ago and so this piece came to light. I wish I had known about this before (and had the money), I would have loved to have seen it live.

Here the monotony strikes me as violent. I wonder if that's a commentary on life in modern-day Israel or on the lives of contemporary Israeli women--or both. I wonder if I gender state politics, or if I nationalize gender politics, too frequently. (Indeed I have a set of paintings dealing with those issues in the makings.) This also made me think about how violent my own choreography can be. (If you've ever watched Grupo Corpo, it's like that, except less tango and more pushing.) Does this violence ever serve a purpose? Why does art make everything louder?

And something about the relationship with the self seeps out of this narrative. How much of this is universal and how much of it is particular to the cultural context of the piece? I don't know enough to offer an interpretation, but it's worth asking yourself as you watch. (I've watched this about 20 times already and am still not done.)

Lastly, I identify with something about "Red Girls" on a personal level. Maybe it's all the hand gestures (yeah, yeah, harp on the Italian-bit all you want), or the costumes (simple andrie, working, poor-girl look ♥), but most likely it's the searching and unfinding of the movements, this constant reaching out and retracting... It's familiar and beautiful to me.