Batsheva Dance Company is a home for dancemakers collectively committed to ongoing research, passionate practice, and generous sharing. Batsheva is critically acclaimed and popularly embraced as one of the world’s foremost contemporary dance companies. Ohad Naharin, hailed as a preeminent contemporary choreographer, was the Company’s artistic director from 1990—2018 and currently serves as its House Choreographer. Under his leadership, Batsheva is a home for dancemakers collectively committed to new forms and continues to be a proponent of Gaga, the radical movement language developed by Naharin for dancers and for the wider public. The Company was founded in 1964 by Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, who enlisted the seminal choreographer Martha Graham as the Company’s first Artistic Advisor. It is Israel’s largest dance company, with 40 extraordinary dancers from Israel and around the world in its senior company and the Junior Batsheva Ensemble. Batsheva stages some 250 performances annually for more than 100,000 audience members and offers extensive educational activities for young dancers in its dance school and through a variety of courses and workshops. 

Dr. Lior Avizoor is the Company’s current Artistic Director, and Dina Aldor has been the Executive Director since 2009. 

Naharin was born in 1952 in Mizra, Israel. He joined Batsheva Dance Company in 1974. During his first year, guest choreographer Martha Graham invited him to join her own company in New York, where Naharin later made his choreographic debut in 1980. For the next decade, he presented works in New York and abroad, including pieces for Batsheva Dance Company, the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and Nederlands Dans Theater. At the same time, he worked with his first wife, Mari Kajiwara, and a group of dancers in New York. Naharin and Kajiwara continued to work together until she died from cancer in 2001. In 1990, Naharin was appointed Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company, and in the same year, he established the company’s junior division, Batsheva – the Young Ensemble. He has since created over 40 works for both companies and set pieces on many others. After almost 30 years of leading Batsheva, Naharin stepped down as Artistic Director in 2018 and continues to serve as the Company’s House Choreographer.

In addition to his stage work, Naharin also developed Gaga, an innovative movement language based on research into heightening sensation and imagination, becoming aware of form, finding new movement habits, and going beyond familiar limits.

Gaga is the daily training of Batsheva’s dancers and has spread globally among both dancers and non-dancers. 

Under the pseudonym Maxim Waratt, he composed music for many pieces he created for the company.

Naharin's work has also been featured in several films including Tomer Heymann's Out of Focus (2007) and the Heymann brothers' Mr. Gaga (2015). 

A citizen of both Israel and the US, Naharin currently lives in Israel with his wife, dancer and costume designer Eri Nakamura, and their two children, Noga and Asa. 

Dr. Lior Avizoor, born in 1981, is a dancer, teacher, curator, and researcher in the field of dance. Upon graduating from the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts, she moved to Amsterdam, where she completed a bachelor’s degree in dance at the Amsterdam University of the Arts. There, she danced with independent choreographers, and taught for several years. During this period, Avizoor received various scholarships as a dancer, including from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Hanny Veldkamp Fund in the Netherlands.

Upon her return to Israel, she turned to research and theory and enrolled at the Tel Aviv University Faculty of the Arts, where she completed a master’s degree (with hon.) as well as a doctoral degree, dedicating her dissertation to dance ontology. 

Over the last decade, her work has focused on expanding the discourse and thought surrounding the art of dance, drawing connecting threads between dance and other cultural fields. Among others, she was the artistic director of the Room Dances Festival alongside Amos Hetz (2012–2015); co-editor of Maakaf online journal for performing arts, in collaboration with Ran Brown (2010–2017); and curator of the Kontrapunkt Dance Series at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2014–2017). 

Avizoor teaches theory and practice on various platforms and accompanies dance and performance works as a dramaturge and artistic consultant. She also sat on various committees, among them Sal Tarbut Artzi (a government culture-education enrichment program, 2021–2014) and the Ministry of Culture Dance Division (2014–2019). 

In 2019, she was invited by Ohad Naharin to take part in the foundation of the Batsheva Dance Company School and to serve as its director. In 2022, Avizoor took on the role of the Batsheva Dance Company Artistic Director. 

Dina Aldor was born in 1957 in Jerusalem and has been a cultural activist in Israel and abroad for over three decades. Amongst her activities, Dina worked with Lia van Leer in the establishment of the Jerusalem Cinematheque. For twenty years Dina co-directed Multi Media, which was then Israel’s leading production company. Reputed for its artistic audacity, Multi Media’s extensive work has brought the world’s leading companies and artists across the wide spectrum of the performing arts. Dina is active in various international cultural forums. She has served as the Executive Director of Batsheva Dance Company since 2009. 

Yaniv Nagar was born in Tel Aviv in 1971. He began his dance studies at the Beit Danny Community Centre under the direction of Batya and Ofra Hanoon. He graduated from the Thelma Yalin High School and studied at the Bat Dor School of Dance between 1987 and 1992, under the direction of Janet Ordman and Roz Sobol. Yaniv won recognition as an outstanding dancer within the framework of the IDF, and was the recipient of a scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. 

Between 1992 and 1996, he was a dancer with the Ballet de Monte Carlo under the direction of Jean-Christophe Maillot. He joined the Batsheva Dance Company as a dancer in 1996 and performed with the company until 2002. Since 2002, Yaniv has been Batsheva Dance Company’s Company and Stage Manager. In 2007 he received the Yair Shapira Award for his contribution to dance in Israel.

Hsin-Yi Hsiang was born in Taiwan in the year of the pig. She received her B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Hsin-Yi relocated to New York City and joined LeeSaar The Company from fall 2007 until 2014. Hsin-Yi moved to Israel and joined the the Batsheva Dance Company from 2014 until 2018. Since 2019, she has been working with the choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas and performing in her productions: Bacchae, Prelude to a Purge, and MAL- EMBRIAGUEZ DIVINA. Hsin-Yi is also the assistant choreographer of Marlene Monteiro Freitas in works- idiota, ÔSS, and LULU. Hsin-Yi is a certified Gaga teacher and a passionate performing artist. In 2023 was appointed as Rehearsal Director of the company. 

Ori Kroll grew up in Rosh Pinna. She is a gradu­ate of the dance program at the Thelma Yelin School of Arts. In 2011, she was a par­ticipant in Batsheva Dance Company’s Ex­cellence program. Kroll joined the Batsheva Ensemble as an apprentice in 2012 and between 2013 and 2015 was a dancer in the Batsheva Ensemble. In 2019 and 2020, she participated as a dancer in a creative process by Noa Zuk and Ohad Fishoff. Since 2019, Kroll has been co-producing the Hasadna dance workshop in collaboration with Yaara Moses. In 2023, she became Batsheva’s As­sistant to the Artistic Director and Assistant to the Company Rehearsal Manager. 

Yarden Bareket Was born in Tel Aviv in 1999. Yarden Graduated from dance department in Thelma Yellin High School of Arts, and Maslool professional dance program directed by Naomi Perlov and Ofir Dagan. She attended the Bolshoi NYC summer intensive in 2016 and ART of Ballet Summer Course ZURICH in 2018 with a full scholarship. She also participated in the Batsheva Excellence program and Hasadna, the dance workshop managed by Yaara Moses and Yarden Raz. Bareket has worked with Talia Beck on ”Colonia” for Curtains Up 2018 as an understudy, and in 2019 she participated in Project 48 dance, directed by Dana Ruttenberg. Yarden joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2019 and the Company in 2022. 

Emil Brukman was born in Israel in 2001 and graduated from the dance department at the Ironi Alef Arts High School in Tel Aviv. He participated in the Batsheva Dance Company’s Program for Outstanding Dance Students in 2018 and was awarded second and third place in the international AmsterDance competition in 2019. During the 2019-2020 season, Emil danced in the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s Second Company. He joined the Batsheva Ensemble as an apprentice in 2020 and as a dancer in 2021. He joined the Company in 2024. 

Adi Blumenreich was born in the United States in 2001 and immigrated to Israel in 2002. She began her dance studies at the Ra’anana Dance Center under the direction of Zvia Brumer and in 2015 expanded her studies at Lee Arbel’s school of classical ballet. Simultaneously, she participated in the Batsheva Excellence Program from 2018 to 2020. During her national service, she won first place in the international CND competition in the modern category, together with a scholarship to the AED International Summer School in Livorno, Italy. In 2020, she began her studies at the Ga’aton Dance Workshop, directed by Einav Levy and Yossi Berg. She joined the Batsheva Ensemble as an apprentice in 2021 and as a dancer in 2022. Blumenreich joined the Company in 2023. 

Nathan Chipps was born in 1998 in the south of England. In 2008 Nathan furthered his training in the Royal Ballet Associate Program and later went on to attain a B.A. (Hons.) degree from Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London. In 2019 Nathan joined Rambert2, where he was involved in creating and performing work by Andrea Miller, Jermaine Spivey, and Benoit Swan Pouffer, as well as achieving his master’s degree. Nathan joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2020, performing works by Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal, Bobbi Jean Smith, and Or Schraiber. In 2022 Nathan joined the Gothenburg Opera Dance Company in Sweden, creating and performing in works by Imre and MarneVan Opstal and Alexander Ekman. Chipps joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2021 and returned to the Company in 2023. 

Holden Cole was born and raised in Port Alberni, BC, Canada and began his dance training there from age 8 to 15. He is a graduate of both Canada’s National Ballet School and the Juilliard School. Cole has had the privilege of working with names such as Ohad Naharin, Bobbi Jene Smith, Joshua Beamish, Ami Shulman, Justin Peck, Riley Watts, Azure Barton and Johannes Wieland. Cole joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2022, and Batsheva Dance Company in 2024. 

Guy Davidson was born in Tel Aviv in 2001. He graduated from the school of arts and Ironi Alef high school of arts in Tel Aviv. He danced in “Bikurey Ha’itim” dance school (2015—2018). Participated in Batsheva summer courses between 2015 and 2019. Winner of the ‘Amsterdans’ competition in Amsterdam in the contemporary solos category for pre professionals, Davidson also won first place in the solos category and second place in the choreography category in the department of education’s annual dance competition for excellent students (2019). Huy is serving as an outstanding dancer in the IDF. He joined the Batsheva Ensemble as an apprentice in 2019 and as a Dancer in 2020. Davidson joined the Company in 2022. 

Iyar Elezra was born in Israel in 1987. She studied at the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2005 and the Batsheva Dance Company in 2008. In 2016, Iyar left Batsheva Dance Company and Israel for Berlin, where she lived for two years, during which she created, taught, and danced. Iyar has worked with various creators and choreographers like Yasmin Goder, Sharon Eyal, Roi Assaf, Sasha Walls, Michal Helfman, Jason Danino Holt, and has taught works by Ohad Naharin in various places around the world. In collaboration with the musician and dancer Assaf Salhov, Iyar created the “March of the Broken Fairies” which was performed in Curtain Up Project, and together with the artist Adam El-Ezra she created “Counting To 3” at the Alfred Tel Aviv Gallery, and “The Wonder Girls” as part of the Hatem Theater’s incubator program. Iyar returned to dance in the company in 2023. 

Sean Howe was born in 1995 in Toledo, Ohio. In 2013, he was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Sean graduated from the Juilliard School in 2017, receiving the Hector Zaraspe Prize and Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship. For 2017—2018, Sean danced for Gallim Dance and MADBOOTS Dance in New York. He joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2018 and Batsheva Dance Company in 2020. 

Londiwe Khoza was born in South Africa in 1993. She studied at Cape Academy of Performing Arts from 2012 to 2014 and graduated with distinction and top honors. Simultaneously, Khoza was a soloist at the Cape Dance Company. In 2015, she was invited to study at the Central School of Ballet in the UK and to dance with the Joburg Ballet, South Africa’s most prestigious ballet company. Khoza Joined the Young Ensemble in 2016 as an apprentice.  She joined the ensemble as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, as a protégé of Ohad Naharin. She joined Batsheva Ensemble in 2017 and Batsheva Dance Company in 2020. 

Adrienne Lipson was born in London, Canada and began dancing under the tutelage of Jennifer Swan. She received her B.F.A. in dance from Ryerson University in Toronto where she performed with Typecast Dance Company and Rock Bottom Movement. Adrienne supplemented her training with summer courses at Jacob’s Pillow, Springboard Danse Montréal, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, among others. In 2013 Adrienne joined Hubbard Street 2 and in 2016 she joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Adrienne worked with choreographer Robyn Mineko Williams on the creation and continued production of her ‘Undercover Episodes’ series and has presented her own choreographic work with FLOCK as well as Hubbard Street’s Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop. She joined Batsheva Ensemble in 2020 and Batsheva Dance Company in 2021. 

Bo Matthews was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2001. Matthews graduated from New Mexico School for the Arts and in 2018 moved to New York to study at The Juilliard School. Since then, they have had the opportunity to work in creative processes with Jamar Roberts, Bobbi Jene Smith, Shannon Gillen, Justin Peck, and Fluer Darkin. They most recently had the pleasure of performing with Complexions Contemporary Ballet at the Joyce Theater for their 2021—22 season. They joined The Batsheva Ensemble in 2022 and Batsheva Dance Company in 2024. 

Eri Nakamura was born in Japan in 1984. In 2002 she graduated from the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne. From 2003 to 2007 she danced with the Victor Ullate Ballet Company in Madrid and later, between 2007 and 2008, with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal in Canada under the artistic direction of Gradimir Pankov. She joined Batsheva Dance Company in 2011. Since 2015 she has designed costumes for Ohad Naharin’s creations, including Last Work, Venezuela, Hora, Yag, 2019, and MOMO. 

Sofiia Pikalova was born in 2003 in Ukraine. At age 10 her family moved to Kiev, where she started to learn modern dance professionally. In 2016, she started her third year at the Moscow State Ballet School where she professionally learned folk, character, and ballet dance. At 16 she was accepted to the “Maslool” School of Contemporary Dance, Tel-Aviv, where she took a part in the “Curtain up” project with a solo from Girls by Roy Assaf. Sofiia recieved a scholarship as an excellent student from the Mart. Foundation during her second year at “Maslool”. She joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2022 and Batsheva Dance Company in 2024. 

Danai Porat was born in 2001 in Paros, Greece and moved to Israel in 2008. She graduated from the dance department of Thelma Yellin High-School of Arts. In the summers of 2016 and 2017 she participated in the Batsheva Dance Company summer course and in the Batsheva program for outstanding dance students in 2017 and 2018. She joined the Batsheva Ensemble as an apprentice in 2019 and as a dancer in 2020. She joined the Company in 2022. 

Igor Ptashenchuk was born in 1997 in Ukraine and moved to Israel in 2000. He graduated from the dance department at Reut High-School and received the America-Israel Foundation scholarship from 2012 through 2015. He also received scholarships for summer courses at the Juilliard School and the American Ballet Academy. He participated in the excellence project of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in 2011 and 2012. In 2015, he won the Jeannette Ordman scholarship as well as the Mia Arbatova classical ballet competition. In 2015 and 2016, he danced in many projects such as Man of the Hour by Itzik Galili, Grounded by Alon Shtoyer, Carmen by Eli Lazar, and Billy Elliot by Eldar Groissman. He joined Batsheva Ensemble in 2016 and Batsheva Dance Company in 2019. 

Yoni (Yonatan) Simon was born in 1995 and is a graduate of the dance department at the Ironi Alef High School in Tel Aviv. During his studies, he participated in a student exchange program with the deKunsthumaniora school in Belgium. Yoni participated in the Batsheva Excellence Program from 2011 through 2014 and the KCDC Excellence Program in 2011 and 2012. He was the recipient of a full scholarship to the American Academy of Ballet Summer Course in 2013. Yoni served in the IDF as a privileged outstanding dancer. He joined the Batsheva Ensemble as an apprentice in 2014 and as a dancer in 2015. He joined Batsheva Dance Company in 2016. 

Annika Verplancke was born in 2000 in Brussels, Belgium and is half American with Filipino roots. She studied at the Pôle National Supérieur de Danse Rosella Hightower in France from 2016 until 2018. In 2018, Annika was a guest dancer with Nuremberg Opera House in Germany before she attended the Juilliard School from August 2018 until May 2019. In August 2019, she joined Nederland’s Dans Theater 2, where she was involved in numerous new creations, performances, and international tours for three years. She joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2022 and Batsheva Dance Company in 2024. 

Gili Yaniv Amodai was born in Tel Aviv in 2003. She graduated from Ironi Alef high school of arts in Tel Aviv. She danced in Tzahala school of dance and the TLV ballet school directed by Lee Arbel. She attended Batsheva’s excellence program company in 2019. She won first place in the CND international competition in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021. Gili served as an outstanding dancer in the IDF. She joined the Batsheva Ensemble as an apprentice in 2021 and as a dancer in 2022. She joined the Company in 2024. 

Yarden Zana was born in Modi’in in 2000. He began his studies at the Academy of Music and Dance and the Jerusalem Ballet. At the age of 14 he was invited to the Vienna Opera Ballet Academy, where he graduated with honors. In 2019 he joined the Vienna State Opera Ballet Junior Company, where he took part in works by Manuel Legris, Martin Schlapfer, and others. In 2021, Yarden joined the ITdansa Company in Barcelona, where he performed in works by various choreographers including Ohad Naharin, Akram Khan, Alexander Ekman, Caitano Soto, and more. In 2017 Yarden won first place in the European Ballet Grand Prix, with his work When I Fall, and was invited to teach at the Staatliche Balletschule Berlin school in Berlin. In 2018, Jordan’s creation Human Flash won first place in the Talin International Ballet Competition the piece was performed in galas around the world. He joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2023 and Batsheva Dance Company in 2024. 

Pomegranate Arts, since 1998, has worked in close collaboration with a small group of contemporary artists and arts institutions to bring bold and ambitious artistic ideas to fruition. Creative and executive producers Linda Brumbach and Alisa E. Regas, along with their committed team at Pomegranate Arts, have produced the Olivier Award-winning revival of Einstein on the Beach; Taylor Mac’s epic A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Holiday Sauce, and now—their third collaboration together, along with composer Matt Ray—a rock opera meditation on queerness called Bark of Millions; Available Light by John Adams, Lucinda Childs, and Frank Gehry; Robin Frohardt’s The Plastic Bag Store; Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch’s Shock­headed Peter; and the Drama Desk Award-winning production of Charlie Victor Romeo. In recent years, Pomegranate has expanded into non-performative mediums including the feature documentary film Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music (HBO), the film short Taylor Mac: Whitman in the Woods (ALL ARTS), and museum installations for Machine Dazzle. Pomegranate Arts is proud to support North American touring for Batsheva Dance Com­pany and Sankai Juku.