Israeli Dancer Awarded for Revolutionizing International Dance

Photo: Gadi Dagon

Israeli dancer and choreographer, Ohad Naharin, has been awarded the 2009 Dance magazine award, honoring the greatest talents in the dance world.

Fifty-seven-year-old Naharin started his career as a dancer in Israel, but soon realized that his true calling is choreography. In 1980, he opened the Ohad Naharin Dance Company, but later returned to Israel to take the position of director at the Batsheva Dance Company.

One of Naharin’s greatest contributions to world of dance is Gaga, a technique that he developed and is currently taught around the world to dancers and even ordinary people who simply have the urge to move it.

The editors of Dance magazine say that the prize goes to Naharin for revolutionizing international dance: “During the last two decades, Naharin’s pioneering approach and unforgettable choreography injected a catalyzing, invigorating force into Israel’s rising dance scene. Meanwhile, the choreographer’s influence can be felt abroad, where there is a growing clamor for Gaga classes and an insatiable appetite for his creations.”

Read more here.

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