Award-winning
Hagit Yakira dance presents Free Falling, an open-hearted double bill of
down-to-earth dance that’s sensual, striking and a beautiful respite from the
hustle and bustle.
Based on a
collection of stories gathered through years of working as a therapist, Hagit
Yakira has created a powerful and atmospheric mixed bill that eloquently
uncovers real life experiences about common uncertainties we share.
In anticipation
of Hagit Yakira dance’s autumn tour, The
Insanity In Dancing interviews Hagit to find out more about her background
and her choreographic work.
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| Hagit Yakira (PC: Camilla Greenwell) |
Maya Pindar:
tell us about your time in Israel as a young person, how did you discover
dance?
Hagit Yakira: I discovered dance at three
different moments in my life. First as a little girl, I always danced, I loved
it! Then again in my teens whilst dancing at the Jerusalem academy of music and
dance I developed a complex relationship to dance - kind of love and hate
relationships to it. And then in my early 30s when I chose choreography as
my profession; when I realised that dance is what I have to do. I have to
dance, create and make other people move.
MP: tell us
about your choreographic processes and methods
HY: I
work collaboratively, meaning I come to a process with a subject matter, with a
sensation, with an idea. I then offer it to the dancers through different
physical tasks, improvisation and group work and see what happens. I direct the
dancers to a state of mind and a teamwork which I wish to convey on stage - I
try not to force it on the dancers, but to lead them to it through very
demanding and precise physical explorations. In that way there is a constant
dialogue between the dancers and me.
I am
an emotional woman; I understand the world through my feelings, sensations,
emotions and this is also how I treat my work. It is emotional and therefore
and accordingly the creative process is as well. In that way I treat emotions,
sensations and feelings as a concept to explore intellectually and physically.
To me they are a most insightful source of knowledge to explore and experiment
with.
 |
| PC: Camilla Greenwell |
MP: what
inspired you to draw upon your experiences as a therapist for Free Falling?
HY: The depth and richness of being a human
being. What I mean is – is that as a therapist I met many sides of humanity that
I was less aware of – different scales of compassion, empathy, struggles, pain, acceptance, patience - it
was important for me - still is - to work with these.
MP: what has
the biggest challenge been in the creation of the double bill?
HY: Time and
money! This is probably something all the artists who work within the scale
that we do have to face. Very little means, not much time but very big
expectations.
MP: in a
nutshell, what can we expect from Free Falling?
HY: Feelings,
emotions, humanity and connectivity.
 |
| PC: Camilla Greenwell |
MP: finally,
which one piece of advice would you now offer a young Hagit?
HY: Do it your
own way! Don't give up and always combine it with other things - with life!
With love! With friends, food, traveling, books whatever takes you away from dance
a bit... Give it everything you can but then know when to give it absolutely
nothing!
Free Falling collaborators -
Sabio
Janiak
Music
Michael Mannion Lighting Design
Lou Cope Dramaturge
Michael Mannion Lighting Design
Lou Cope Dramaturge
Elizabeth
Barker Costumes
Bettina John Costumes
Bettina John Costumes
Gene Giron
Production Manager
Free Falling dancers - Sophie Arstall, Joel Benjamin O’Donoghue, Stephen
Moynihan, Verena Schneider
Find out more
about Hagit Yakira dance and the upcoming tour here.
