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GUESTS OF HONOR
Choreographer’s Name: Maya Stern and Tomer Sharabi
Company’s Name: Maya & Tomer
Artist Statement/Philosophy/Mission Statement:
Our movement language is eclectic, inspired from the practice of Butoh – a contemporary vanguard Japanese contemporary dance discipline, from modern dance, and from normal day to day human movement. We are drawn to the extreme aspects of human interaction, pulled by the innermost desires that aspire to expose themselves to the light of day. Things we want to hide, that we don't want to look at, yet the more we do that the more these dark desires manage us. We wish to not conform to conventional aesthetic forms, but to find an authentic language of communications. In our research we find that a lot of the time the most authentic movements are not at all aesthetic, symmetrical, or open to the space, but rather drawn out with intensive effort from inner spiral movement.
Short Artist/Company Bio:
Born and based in Israel, Maya Stern and Tomer Sharabi have met in high-school, and have since been working together for almost two decades.
Still in high-school, they won the 1st and 2nd prizes at the renowned “Gvanim” dance competition, 1991. In 1994 they won 1st prize at the British Consulate's dance competition, and in 1995 the 3rd prize at the Groningen competition, Holland.
They are winners of the Minister of “Culture, Science, and Sports” Prize for Young Choreographers 2006, and are supported by the ministry on a yearly basis. They are the receivers of the first “Giora Manor” bi-annual Grant for Dancers.
In 2007 they established the “Maya & Tomer Dance Ensemble”, which encouraged them to create individual work as well.
Their piece "Happiness" participated at the Israeli Week in the 2007 “Shanghai Dance Festival”, and at the “High Fest” Festival, Armenia.
In May 2008 they won the 1st prize of 7,500 EUR in the "No Ballet" competition, Ludwigzafen, Germany with their piece "Dinner".
Describe some of your achievements over the course of the last five years:
In May 2008 they won the 1st prize of EUR 7,500 at the "No Ballet" competition in Ludwigzafen-Germany with their work "Dinner".
Winners of the Minister of “Culture, Science, and Sports” Prize for Young Choreographers 2006.
Receivers of the first “Giora Manor” bi-annual Grant for Dancers.
Participated at the Israeli Week at the Shanghai Dance Festival 2007
Participated in the High Fest Festival 2007 in Armenia.
they won the 1st and 2nd prizes at the renowned “Gvanim” dance competition, 1991.
In 1994 they won 1st prize at the British Consulate's dance competition – Tel Aviv, and in 1995 the 3rd prize
at the Groningen competition, Holland.
What do you hope to gain from the experience of participating in this festival?
Share our work with new audiences (1st time in the U.S.), network with peer artists, share our experience with fresh artists and dancers, and nurture our creative processes by seeing others' work. And of course enjoy the beautiful Santa Barbara.
Have you participated in other festivals or showcases?
Yes
If so – what were elements you enjoyed and what areas do you think could have been improved on?
We enjoyed the diversity of works and artists, meeting and making new artistic and personal friends, and traveling and performing in different cultures.
On the down side we felt that many times the construction of the shows needed more attention. Short tech times have been stressful for both artists and tech people (which is understandable and is fine for our experience level). Also bringing the artists together in a more facilitated manner could make the experience more nurturing for everyone.
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