The Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre, Neve-Tzedek, Tel-Aviv

The Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre was established in 1989, by the Dellal family from London, the Tel – Aviv Municipality, the Tel – Aviv Foundation, and theMinistry of Culture and Education, following the initiative of Ze’ev Sokolovsky ,Mr Shlomo Lahat the Mayor of Tel Aviv –Yaffo and The Tel Aviv Foundation.

In the early eighties, a variety of cultural activities were initiated and sponsored in what was then known as the Neve Tzedek Theatre. This was, and still today, largely due to the dedicated and ongoing involvement of the Yerushalmy Family.

The Suzanne Dellal Centre is home for the Israeli creator who brings the experience of Israeli life to the stage. This experience focuses on Israeli identity and reveals its various faces. By using all aspects of the local culture and by exploring the past, the Israeli creator touches the whole of our social identity and acts as a mirror which reflects our own personality. Like its surroundings, the Israeli creator is full of contradictions: he deals with pain and anger and uses his body to create and express physical force, but he is also soft, lyric and attentive as he caresses the lonely self that resides in each of us; he stays loyal to his origins and heritage but is not afraid to provoke and ridicule them; he raises many questions but supplies little answers. He is always original and exists in present time.

For over fifteen years, Israeli dance has been blooming. Originality and creativity have joined high technical skills and the results are groundbreaking. This success did not come about by chance and it is not to be taken for granted, it is the result of the investment, the creative thinking and the hard work of the Suzanne Dellal Centre that, since 1989, has been the house of Israeli dance and its creators.

With the vision and help of former Mayor of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, Mr. Shlomo Lahat and the representative of the Dellal Family Foundation, Mr. Ze’ev Sokolovsky, the building of the centre – in the middle of a historical yet neglected neighborhood, on the ruins of the Aliance school and in the Yechieli school building – has paved the way for the much anticipated breakthrough of Israeli dance, which has been thriving ever since.

Yair Vardi, the Director of Suzanne Dellal Centre, was born at Kibbutz Kfar – Blum in the upper Galilee; he is a dancer and choreographer, a member of the second generation of the Bat Sheva Dance Company. In 1977 he was awarded the Kinor David prize. He loined the Ballet Rambert in London and later he started his own group English Dance Theatre and a centre for dance Dancity in Newcastle, England. He returned to Israel after twelve years and chose to be the Director of the Suzanne Dellal Centre.

Since it was founded the centre has initiated and established over 100 schemes for artistic creation.
In average, the centre welcomes over half a million visitors per year.
Since it was founded, the centre has featured over 850 premieres.
In average, the centre hosts over 600 cultural events and performances per year.
Israeli dance and dance creators’ right of existence is an indisputable fact.
A constantly increasing number of choreographers, creators and dancers.
A constantly growing crowd of faithful followers and wide public recognition of the centre’s work.
Overwhelming development of Neve-Tzedek. The demographics of the neighborhood have changed and it is now considered one of Tel-Aviv’s most prestigious areas. Cafes, exclusive shops and restaurants attract young professionals and residents and encourage real-estate investments and tourism.
An international centre for dance and communication through dance.
Dance from the Suzanne Dellal Centre is one of Israel’s most important exports and it is Israel’s best cultural representative in the world.
An educational centre for art and culture.
The Suzanne Dellal Centre has changed Israel’s cultural map.
Many cultural teams and delegations are visiting the centre and studying it in an attempt to found such a centre in their countries.
The Suzanne Dellal Centre is the infrastructure and basis upon which the Israeli dance creator is developed.
The centre’s location is a municipal, urban and demographic success story.
The centre is home for Israel’s national dance company – The Bat Sheva Dance Company and The Bat Sheva Ensemble.
The centre is home for The Orna Porat Children and Youth Theatre.
The centre is home for all of israel’s dance artists and creators.
The centre is the most visited tourist sight in Tel-Aviv.

Over the years, the centre’s has developed in two separate, yet parallel, paths: the first is based on the centre’s productions and its educational activities, and the second sees the centre as the main stage upon which dance artists can show their work. This thinking resulted in numerous projects that demonstrate the centre’s ambition to enable the creation of as many quality dance pieces as possible and to support Israeli choreographers by helping them to create and share their work with large audiences.

The projects: The inalienable assets of Israeli dance

“Shades of Dance”

Features the debuts of young inexperienced choreographers under the supervision of a professional artistic director. This project is these artists’ first step into the Israeli dance scene. Most of today’s Israeli choreographers started their professional way as part of this project.

“The Choreographer’s course”

Under the professional management of world famous choreographers such as Bob Cohen, Daniel Azralo, Josef Nadj and Ohad Naharin.

“Curtains Up”

Founded by the dance department of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and The Suzanne Dellal Centre.

As the main project for independent creation in Israel, this enterprise fully supports the artists in all aspects of their production: costs, lighting and costume design, technical support, public relations and advertising campaigns and income from ticket sales. This attractive package allows artists to focus solely on their work.

Each year a different artistic director is appointed and he or she is responsible to locate relevant artists and to guide and accompany them throughout their work process. After the 3 main weeks of performances the artists continue to perform throughout Israel including, of course, The Suzanne Dellal Centre.

“SummerDance”

During the summer, the centre holds this 2 months festival that ends the Israeli dance season. This festival functions as the yearly showcase of Israeli dance as it gives a second chance to enjoy the best works of the year.

“OtherDance”

Using the centre’s smaller Yaron Yerushalmi hall, this event enables dance artists to enjoy the technical and logistical support of the centre in order to introduce audiences to smaller and more intimate works. The artists have complete artistic freedom, which they use to produce personal and intimate pieces.

“International Exposure”

An initiative of The Suzanne Dellal Centre, this scheme introduces local work to guests from abroad who are invited by the centre to choose works for future festivals and dance events around the world. Taking place yearly at the end of November and beginning of December, this scheme has alreadybrought many Israeli dance pieces to some of the world’s most famous stages.

This initiative has opened new channels of communication and interest and has made Israeli dance welcomed and sought after all around the world. Following this success, many organizations in Israel have started similar projects in the fields of theatre and music and the demand for Israeli art in international festivals is on the rise.

During the years many more projects and schemes have been developed, all with the improvement and development of Israeli dance in mind. Some of these projects are the result of collaborations with The Israel Festival in Jerusalem and with the Karmiel Dance Festival.

The international connection – international projects:

“The international dance contest, Suzanne Dellal”

A main project which is meant to connect the local dance scene with the international one. This project succeeded in exposing the local scene to the work of international artists and choreographers in a way that continues to enrich the Israeli culture scene. Some of the winners have been invited to create choreographies for Israeli dance companies.

“DanceEuropa” the stage for European dance in Israel

In 1999 The Suzanne Dellal Centre and the European Union delegation to Israel initiated this project in order to expose the Israeli dance crowd to the up and coming new generation of European dance.

Following the success of the first year, The Israel Festival invited this project to become its main dance section during the years 2000-2001.

Since 2003 the project has become a joint enterprise of The Suzanne Dellal Centre and The Tel-Aviv Performing Arts Centre.

Theatre, music and other events:

Teatroneto (Israeli and international)

An original enterprise of The Bimot Theatre and The Suzanne Dellal Centre in which the single actor or actress were put under the spotlight. For many artists this programme functioned as a springboard as it exposed them both locally and internationally. Many of the productions created for this project have become part of Israeli theatres’ repertoire and some are still playing today.

Fairytales’ Magic, in memory of Yaron Yerushalmi

A big summer celebration, combining dance, theatre, music and singing. A special fun event for the entire family.

Flamenco Days

Promoting the Flamenco dance and Spanish culture in Israel.

The Mia Arbatova Ballet Competition

Commemorating Mia Arbatova, Israel’s classical ballet pioneer.

“Dancing from the Belly”

Promoting eastern dance.

More projects and events that have taken place over the years include: " Chamber MusicFestival", " Vocalic Music Festival " , " Jewish Music " , “Two by Two”, “Three by Three”, “Only Men Dancing”, “Passover Bach”, “Jazz-O-Mania”, On the Way to London” and more.

Co-operations:

Being the heart of Israeli dance, it is only natural that the centre will co-operate with various organizations that, unlike the centre that works throughout the year, offer annual activities. The co-operation with The Karmiel Dance Festival, for example, has already become a tradition that offers a varied programme to dance enthusiasts in northern and central Israel.

Three original and innovative productions have already been made possible thanks to the centre’s co-operation with The Israel Festival.

The centre is constantly collaborating with dance schools from all over Israel in order to expose their students to the best of contemporary dance and to broaden the professional education of dance students and communities in rural areas.

GROUPS HOUSED at THE SUZANNE

BatSheva Dance Company

Founded in 1964 in Israel by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, the Batsheva Dance Company has become one of the world’s leading dance organizations. At home, Batsheva has a great impact on all aspects of cultural life in Israel with an extensive outreach and education program. The Batsheva Ensemble, our junior company spearheads these activities by dedicating much of its time to exposing new and young audiences to dance.

Known for its ground breaking, innovative and emotive productions, Batsheva has performed to critical acclaim reaching audiences at the most prestigious theatres and festivals around the world; including the BAM, Lincoln Center and Jacob’s Pillow festivals, London’s Barbican Centre, and Paris’s Theatre de la Ville. With over 200 annual performances in Israel and abroad, Batsheva is proud to be considered Israel’s leading ambassador.

The Orna Porat Childern & Youth Theatre

"The Orna Porat Theater for Children and Youth", which was founded in 1970, is a non-profit public organization. The chairman of this organization is Mr. Michael Yerushalmy. All the revenues of the theater are used to advance its aims and finance its activities. The theater was established by the Ministry of Education and Culture, and its primary goal is to acquaint all the children in Israel, wherever they live, with the art of theater and, in doing so, to impart aesthetic – artistic values, as well as humanistic national and universal values through first hand contact with artistic creation.

The Theater has so far staged more then 250 plays and developed a rich and diverse repertoire which includes many world known and Israeli classics, as well as plays performed in theaters throughout the globe such as “the Miser”, “The Twelfth Night”, “Scapin the Trickster”, “Circus Adventure”, “Matty and Milly”, “Two on Single Roof” and many more.

Each year, the Theater stages about 20 plays, performing approximately 750 times before a total audience of 400,000 in some 250 cities and settlements throughout Israel. The Theater is the biggest in this field.

Inbal Dance Theater – Inbal Ethnic Centre

Inbal Dance Theater was established in 1950 by Sara Levi – Tanai. The group deals with subject and materials deriving from Jewish tradition and heritage, and from the folklore of the various ethnic groups in Israel – Jewish and non Jewish – such as the Yemenite, Moroccan, Habanic, Persian and Kurdish folklore, the Chasidic community and Arab society. The use of these materials is free and modern. Sara Levi – Tanai, the founder of Inbal, has created a special artistic language which is a mixture of popular elements, ancient and original, combined with a modern theatrical approach.

The Inbal Group sees Israel as part of a cultural area, ancient and rich, which absorbed, but also influenced, western culture – as well as other cultures from Africa and India. Therefore the Group takes its materials from the bible, the heritage of Yemenite, Jewry, from the endless desert and from the MediterraneanBasin. Among the magnificent creations of the Group are; the “Megilat Ruth” dance for which Sara Levi Tanai was awarded the title of “Bast Choreographer during the theater Halls Festival held in Paris in 1962. Other creations include “Yemenite Wedding”, “Deborah Poem”, “Hymn for David”, “Willd Rose”, “Desert”, “Song of Song”, etc. Today, The Inbal Dance Company is part of the Inbal Ethnic Centre for Arts at The Suzanne Dellal Centre.