Emanuel Gat

Emanuel Gat (* 1969 in Hadera , Israel ) is an Israeli dancer and choreographer .

In 2004 he founded his company Emanuel Gat Dance . With the pieces Winter Voyage and Le sacre du printemps , the company celebrated its first premieres at the Uzés Danse Festival in June 2004 in France. The two pieces have since been performed more than 300 times worldwide. In 2005 the company received the State of Israel Culture Prize for exceptional dance pieces. In 2006, Gats Dance Company received the Bessie Award for its presentation at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York . In the same year, the Israeli cultural foundation IcExcellence honored him as "outstanding artist", one of the highest awards for artists in Israel.

Gat and his company have been based in Istres, France, since 2007 and are touring successfully around the world with various new dance productions. His latest creation Brilliant Corners celebrated the German premiere on August 16, 2011 at Hebbel am Ufer as part of the Tanz im August Festival in Berlin.

Career

Gat first came into contact with dance at the age of 23 - in a workshop by the Israeli choreographer Nir Ben Gal in 1992. Originally, he wanted to be a conductor, had studied for a semester at the music academy, but eventually discovered his talent for dance and music Choreography, which for him have a lot in common with musical composition. Six months after the workshop he started dancing for the Liat Dror Nir Ben Gal Company , with whom he toured in Israel and around the world. From 1994 he worked as an independent choreographer. His first piece was the solo Four Dances (1994) to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach . In the following 10 years Gat created numerous projects of his own as a dancer and choreographer, which were shown both in Israel and at international festivals around the world.

Gat has received a number of grants and awards. Including a scholarship from the Albert Gaubiers Fund (1995), the Rosenblum Prize for the Performing Arts (2003) and the Landau Prize (2004).

In January 2004 Gat started his own company, Emanuel Gat Dance , with which he received the Culture Prize of the State of Israel for extraordinary dance pieces the following year.

In 2006, the Israeli cultural foundation IcExcellence elected him to the ranks of "outstanding artists" - one of the highest honors for Israeli artists. Also in 2006 his company received the Bessie Award for the performance of Winter Voyage and Le sacre du printemps at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York. These were the first two pieces of the newly founded company Emanuel Gat Dance . Following Gat created K626 , a piece for eight dancers on the basis of Requiem of Mozart . The premiere was in 2006 at the Festival de Marseilles. 3for2007 followed in 2007 - a program with three pieces, including My Favorite things , a solo danced by Gat himself to music by John Coltrane; Petit torn de dança , a duet based on French songs from the Middle Ages; and Through the center ... , a piece for 8 dancers to electronic music by Squarepusher .

In September 2007 Gat moved from Israel to France and has since worked with his company in the small French town of Istres , Ouest Provence .

Silent Ballet , a piece for 8 dancers without music, premiered at the renowned Montpellier Danse Festival in July 2008. This work was co-produced by the Lincoln Center Festival New York, Romaeuropa Festival, Sadler's Wells Theater in London and the Montpellier Dance Festival.

That same year, Gat and Roy Assaf resumed their longstanding collaboration to create Winter Variations , a 50-minute duet that premiered at the American Dance Festival in June 2009 and later performed at the Montpellier Danse and Lincoln Center Festival in New York.

Gat regularly receives orders to choreograph for dance companies. a. for the Paris Opera Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, Le Ballet du Rhin, Tanztheater Bremen, Ballet des Grand Théâtre de Genève, Ballet de Marseille, Noord Nederlandse Dans and State Ballet Poland.

Gat is the son of Israeli immigrants. His parents are from Morocco . He is married and has five children.

Working method and style

Gat received far-reaching, international attention for the first time with his original interpretation of Le sacre du printemps from 2004. He woven salsa steps into this choreography to Stravinski's music. Re-exploring the relationship between dance and music is one of the fundamental characteristics of his works. According to Gats' view, music and dance can exist independently of one another. He is interested in the tension between the two: How is what we see influenced by what we hear? He created the dance piece Silent Ballet (2008) for eight (originally nine) dancers entirely without music:

"When the eight dancers from Emanuel Gat Dance stroll on the stage, line up and remain motionless, then they create a tension. As soon as their bodies press together to fan out into the room, it is reminiscent of a blossoming bud. Opening und Entfalten is choreographically orchestrated in such a way that the audience thinks they are hearing a musical theme. But "Silent Ballet" manages without music. The dance asserts its autonomy, and yet it is not an exercise. "

Strangely enough, the fact that Gat first studied music before starting his career as a dancer and choreographer becomes most evident in Silent Ballet of all places , writes The Guardian in the context of the performances in Great Britain:

"Although there are only 8 dancers on stage, the way Gat coordinates them creates an almost orchestral feeling. Individuals and small groups are emphasized with nuances and precision, so that they create the contrasting effects of different instruments. A dense ensemble smaller, nervous steps and waving arms suggests the high notes of violins; a couple that crosses the room with heavy, creeping steps becomes a dark, vibrating bass line. "

For Brilliant Corners (2011) Gat composed the music himself, a sound collage, developed in an elaborate process that lasted for several years. One part of the piece is also danced in complete silence, which is actually not noticeable. Again the relationship between dance and music is observed and their meaning for one another is examined. Brilliant Corners , celebrated as a highly musical work of "brilliant intelligence", refers to the title of an album by jazz musician Thelonious Monk .

“When I was choreographing the piece, I was listening to Monk's albums all the time. It was always on my mind. [...] Monk has also influenced me in the way I choreograph, how I look at structures. "

In the genesis of Brilliant Corners , for him the essence of 20 years of work, Gat's self-image as a choreographer manifests itself. He doesn't invent the choreography, he discovers it. In addition, the dancers are given certain tasks in which they experiment. One of these tasks at Brilliant Corners , for example, was to move a predefined distance from another dancer. If 10 dancers move towards each other in the room, there is a complex interplay that becomes even more complicated if predefined distances to 2 or 3 dancers are to be maintained.

"There is a substance, there are mechanisms, a logic in the way things happen and that depends on many factors. In the studio we work on exposing these mechanisms, making them visible, like a group of 10 dancers reacts to each other. "

On the stage, the group finally resembles "a breathing organism that expands and tensions, shifts and accelerates".

Gat mostly works without stage or costume design in his pieces. The dancers usually wear everyday clothes. The lighting often looks more like work light, you won't find an elaborate lighting design at Gat. He develops music and choreography separately and only brings them together in the final rehearsals. The Israeli choreographer is considered a dance purist who "refuses to tell a story.

"I don't like labels like 'formal' or 'abstract'. Every performance has cultural, intellectual and social effects and implications. I don't want to predetermine or direct them and am always surprised by the many stories that arise on stage. [...] When I look at pieces by other choreographers, I only pay attention to the energy flows between the dancers. Why is someone walking to the left or to the right now? Everything takes place in the rooms between the dancers. That is where the real choreography lies. " .

The dancers of Gats company consciously differ in origin and dance style. Your individual interpretations of Gats specifications allow the choreography to emerge before his eyes. The dancers are relatively free to contribute their own expressions and motivations.

The dancers of the Emanuel Gat Dance Ensemble are Hervé Chaussard (F), Amala Dianor (F), Andrea Hackl (A), Fiona Jopp (AUS), Michael Löhr (D), Pansun Kim (South Korea), Philippe Mesia (F), Geneviève Osborne (AUS), François Przybylski (F) and Rindra Rasoaveloson (F).

Works (selection)

• 1994: Four Dances
• 1996: Polipopipop
• 2003: Ana wa Enta and Two Stupid Dogs
• 2004: Le sacre du printemps with the same music of Igor Stravinsky and Winter Voyage , based on the Winterreise by Franz Schubert
• 2006: K626 based on Mozart's Requiem
• 2007: 3for2007 - a program with 3 pieces - My Favorite Things (solo), Petit torn de dança (duet) and Through the center (8 dancers).
• 2007: Voyage and Despite the Old Dragon , Tanztheater Bremen
• 2008: Windings with music by Iannis Xenakis , as part of the Suresnes Cités Danse Festival.
• 2008: Silent Ballet and Sixty Four based on Bach's cycle Die Kunst der Fuge , created for the Montpellier Danse Festival
• 2009: Hark! with Flow my tears, Go Night Cares, Sorrow Stay by John Dowland , created for the Paris Opera
• 2009: Winter Variations , duet with Emanuel Gat and Roy Assaf, with music by the Beatles , Riat Al-Sunbati and Gustav Mahler
• 2010: In Translation , Candoco Dance Company
• 2010: Satisfying Musical Moments , Sydney Dance Company
• 2010: Observation Action , Ballet du Rhin
• 2010: The Revised and Updated Bremen Structures , Tanztheater Bremen
• 2011: Preludes & Fugues , Ballet of the Grand Théâtre de Genève
• 2011: Brilliant Corners , Biennale di Venezia ; inspired by the album of the same name by jazz musician Thelonious Monk
• 2013: Danses de Cour
• 2013: It's people, how abstract can it get? , Photographic installation
• 2013: Corner Etudes , four short pieces that further develop the themes and ideas of Brilliant Corners (2011)
• 2013: The Goldlandbergs

literature

• Eva-Elisabeth Fischer: Emanuel Gat . In: ballet dance. November 2009, p. 58. (online)
• Thomas Hahn: brilliant corners . In: dance. August / September 2011. (excerpt online)
• Katja Schneider: Perfection and Hymn - News from Itzik Galili and Emanuel Gat at the Festival Tanztheater International. In: Friedrich Berlin Verlagsgesellschaft (ed.): Tanzjournal. October 2006.

Web links

• Official website of the Emanuel Gats company
• " Reach out . Emanuel Gat opens the Context dance festival" - review of Silent Ballet and Winter Variations at Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin, by Sandra Luzina, January 2011
• " Explodiert in den Raum" - review of the German premiere of Brilliant Corners at HAU1 Berlin, by Sandra Luzina, August 2011
• "One hour of play and tenderness" - review of Brilliant Corners by Boris Michael Gruhl on tanznetz.de, on August 17, 2011
• Video report on Brilliant Corners on Arte - With rehearsal recordings and excerpts from an interview with Emanuel Gat. By S.Luzina, M. Kotzurek, L. Naimi and N. Cohen. Produced by Arte . August 23, 2011. Accessed online August 28, 2011.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Eva-Elisabeth Fischer: Emanuel Gat. on: kultiversum.de
2. ↑ "exploded in the room" - criticism of the German premiere of Brilliant Corners in HAU1 Berlin, Sandra Luzina 10 August, 2011, accessed on 28 August 2011th
3. ↑ " Reach your hand. Emanuel Gat opens the Context dance festival" - review of Silent Ballet and Winter Variations at Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin, by Sandra Luzina, January 22, 2011, accessed on August 28, 2011.
4. ↑ Judith Mackrell: Emanuel Gat. In: The Guardian. September 22, 2010, accessed August 28, 2011.
5. ↑ Thomas Hahn: brilliant corners . In: dance. August / September 2011, p. 11. (excerpt online) ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Video report on Brilliant Corners on Arte ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - With rehearsal recordings and excerpts from an interview with Emanuel Gat. By S.Luzina, M. Kotzurek, L. Naimi and N. Cohen. Produced by Arte . August 23, 2011, accessed August 28, 2011.  
7. ↑ Video report on Brilliant Corners on Arte ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - With rehearsal recordings and excerpts from an interview with Emanuel Gat. By S.Luzina, M. Kotzurek, L. Naimi and N. Cohen. Produced by Arte . August 23, 2011, accessed August 28, 2011.  
8. ↑ Video report on Brilliant Corners on Arte ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - With rehearsal recordings and excerpts from an interview with Emanuel Gat. By S. Luzina, M. Kotzurek, L. Naimi and N. Cohen. Produced by Arte . August 23, 2011, accessed August 28, 2011.  
9. ↑ La Biennale di Venezia 2011: Emanuel Gat Dance (France), accessed on August 28, 2011 ( Memento of the original from August 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ Thomas Hahn: brilliant corners . In: dance. August / September 2011, p. 9. (excerpt online) ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ Thomas Hahn: brilliant corners . In: dance. August / September 2011, p. 11. (excerpt online) ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ Thomas Hahn: brilliant corners . In: dance. August / September 2011, p. 11. (excerpt online) ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.