by Luana Pleșea
Choreographer Rami Be’er returns to Sibiu with a new show, The Director’s Cut, created in 2022. A production that arises from iconic moments and reappears in a surprising and captivating directorial interpretation. Choreographer Rami Be’er connects the past, present, and future by deconstructing components and sequences, creating a new interpretation, and offering a fresh perspective that changes who and what is happening around it.
I spoke with Rami Be’er about the beginnings of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, The Director’s Cut, and the idea of unity as a means to create a particular world on stage.
Luana Pleșea: Rami Be’er, I’d like to begin with The Director’s Cut, as I’m quite curious and I only know a few details about the project. What is the story behind this production?
Rami Be’er: The Director’s Cut is a show I created two years ago to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. In that sense, it is really a celebration of the 50 years that have passed since Yehudit Arnon founded the company. Yehudit, a young girl at the time, survived World War II in the Auschwitz extermination camp. It was then that she decided that if she were to survive, she would dedicate her life to dance and movement.
And so she did. She came to Israel in 1948. After that, in northern Israel, alongside a group of people from then-Czechoslovakia and Hungary, among whom were my parents, they all came together to build Kibbutz, a unique lifestyle and a country. From the very beginning, everybody joined her, and she would make them dance. Later, in 1973, she founded Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. The Director’s Cut is therefore a celebration of the 50 years since the company’s founding. I was born in Kibbutz, and as a I child, I was educated by Yehudit Arnon.
In fact, she was the one who recognized my talent and skills, and over the years, she knew how to guide and support me. She was the artistic director of the company until 1996, when she suggested that I take over the position. Since then, I have been running the company, and The Director’s Cut is a celebration of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. It’s a show that generates a variety of mood and atmosphere shifts. It’s colorful. It’s a show that not only celebrates the beginning of the company, but also the joy of moving, the freedom of movement and the freedom of soul.
Moreover, this show incorporates glimpses from some of the works that I previously created in different contexts. In a way, this show also draws influences from the cinematic world. It is colorful and it speaks directly to the public. It’s not a complicated production, rather a celebration of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s 50th anniversary.
LP: And how do you bring together these different moments from the past 50 years? How do you connect them?
RB: They are different chapters. There are parts that evoke gentleness, love, and care. There are moments that shape the atmosphere, moments about the situation we have been going through here, in the world or in Israel, an atmosphere that is tied to the tension and conflict we have with our neighbors. Amidst it all, there’s also a part full of intense energy. A part that is also very kind… So, it is comparable to a journey through life, in which there is also sadness. There is a journey. In our lives there is laughter and crying, joy and happiness, sadness and pain, different moods, different feelings.
The show doesn’t tell a story. What I offer the audience is an invitation to step inside and take a seat… The lights go down, the curtain rises. I offer a certain thread and guide them up to a certain point. However, I then step back and invite them to continue their journey, through their own eyes, their own memories, their own interpretation, their own feelings, their own thoughts, their imagination, dreams, and fantasy. They are free to reflect on what they see in their own way, from their own perspective.
From my point of view, there’s a way for everyone to connect with their own personal journey. There isn’t just one way of seeing things. I’m not sure how to put it exactly, but it’s more of a suggestion, an open possibility that each person can shape based on their own feelings, thoughts, memories, associations, dreams, and so on.
But the show is closely linked to the idea of existence, of our existence, even that one between the moments of celebration. It is not about escapism. It says something about life.
I also incorporated a text by Israeli poet David Avidan into the performance, which is present in the brochure along with its Romanian translation.
LP: I would like to ask you what defines your aesthetics of movement? How has it evolved over the years?
RB: I am trying to find a specific way to express myself through movement, music, and visual images in order to create a certain universe on stage, a universe built from different layers and different dimensions – one of them is movement. The dancer and their physicality, the dancer and their soul… Each dancer interprets my proposal through their own body. And each body projects itself in a unique way. Each dancer has their own personality, soul and physicality. They interpret my instructions, but each dancer is unique and special. So, these are the individual voices of each dancer. And then, there is the overall composition, where scenes unfold simultaneously on the same stage, but in different places. Just like in life – one must choose and prioritize. As you can imagine, you can’t take everything in at once. That’s why it’s worth coming to see the show more than once.
This is, as I said, the journey of life. And there is the music and the connection with the music. For me, music is a very powerful and profound source of inspiration. When I hear it, I also see movement and images. When I am with my dancer in the studio and we try to decode together, sometimes the starting point is the music. Some other times, it begins with the movement, and only afterwards do I try to find the right sound.
Music plays a major role in my work and is a constant source of inspiration. The music used in this show comes from various sources and different composers and that’s important. I’m also the one who thinks about the lighting, costumes, and set design. I create both choreography and text. For me, all of these come together to form the entire artistic vision. All elements must unite to serve this idea of creating a world on stage.
Translation: Andreea-Anca Sin; Cover photo: Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, © Eyal Hirsch
