**MART Foundation presents Gibney Company’s first tour to Israel. On February 28 and March 1-2, 2023, this New York City-based contemporary repertory company will perform original works created by internationally renowned choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Johan Inger, Yue Yin, and Sonya Tayeh.**

Founded by choreographer Gina Gibney in 1991 and reinvented in recent years, the Company represents a broad range of aesthetics and techniques working together with renowned and rising contemporary choreographers. The Company has also expanded the role of its dancers, called Artistic Associates, who contribute as community activists in the dance field.

SARA by Sharon Eyal, Gai Behar (2013/Company Premiere 2023)

SARA is like a pearl in a treasure, a box of jewels that smells ancient with the feeling of a new. The box cannot be opened all the way,  its charm will fade. White pearl, transparent, leaking colors but always remains a pearl. SARA is minimalist, gentle, emotional and sensitive, hardcore, and old fashioned at the same time. There’s a sense of restraint and taking advantage of the minimum and the maximum. She is not allowing distance and is getting closer to the heart. She comes from there and leaves into the world as a cloud crumbles into the dust of love.

Creators: Sharon Eyal, Gai Behar
Sound Artist: Ori Lichtik
Lighting: Alon Cohen
Costumes: Odelia Arnold
In collaboration with: Rebecca Hytting, Gon Biran, Sharon Eyal, Gai Behar
Run Time: 13 minutes

Bliss by Johan Inger (2016/Company Premiere 2022)

For this large-scale ensemble piece, Swedish choreographer Johan Inger uses the legendary “Köln Concert” by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett; music that many consider to be the epitome of virtuoso improvisation. Rather than translating the music one-to-one into movement, it is more the feeling of Jarrett’s iconic music — free, soaring and ecstatic — that Inger translates into beautifully crafted dance, sending not only listeners, but audience members into a state of bliss.

Choreography: Johan Inger
Staging by Yvan Dubreuil
Scenery Design by Johan Inger
Costume Design by Johan Inger & Francesca Messori
Lighting Design by Peter Lundin
Music by Keith Jarett
Run Time: 27 minutes

A Measurable Existence by Yue Yin (World Premiere 2022)

Our existence is often measured, remembered, shared and felt by our interactions with space, time and each other. In A Measurable Existence, Yue Yin delves into how we discover aspects of ourselves by discovering others. The moment we realize our journeys parallel, intersect, repel or collide with others’ experiences, we begin a new understanding of our own existence that may frighten, challenge and, at the same time, sustain us.

This work was made possible by the generous support of Andrew A. Davis and the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund.

Choreography: Yue Yin
Original Score: Rutger Zuydervelt
Lighting Design: Asami Morita
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Run Time: 18 minutes

OH COURAGE! by Sonya Tayeh (World Premiere 2021)

OH COURAGE! is a piece about self-reflection, truth and resilience. It is a soul march that navigates what occurs when there is a guttural need for change. In that need, there is a sense of euphoria in possibility, and a vivid mourning for what is being lost along the way. How do we create a sanctuary for both?

This work was made possible by the generous support of Andrew A. Davis and the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, and the Omomuki Foundation.

Choreography: Sonya Tayeh
Associate Choreographer: Jenn Freeman
Original Music: The Bengsons
Set Design: Rachel Hauck
Lighting Design: Asami Morita
Costume Design: Márion Talán de la Rosa
Costume Construction: Victoria Bek
Run Time: 26 minutes