Hadar Ahuvia, Embodying a Hasidic Piyyut

Monday, November 14, 2022

Coffman Memorial Union - President's Room

4:00 - 5:00pm

A participatory workshop.

Using movement exercises inspired by Meredith Monk and Victoria Hanna, and learning from Hankus Netsky, we’ll investigate with our bodies the intertwining of form and function of a hassidic piyyut for Yom Kippur, and it’s transformation into a Zionist lullaby. We’ll linger in the Ashkenazic pronunciation of Hebrew and dynamic moments in the melody, to explore how cultural and political values express in the whole body.

Hadar Ahuvia creates performances, workshops, and rituals drawing on the multidisciplinary lineages of postmodern dance and Ashkenazi Jewish diaspora. Raised in Israel/Palestine and the US/Turtle Island, Ahuvia’s work has been supported by Movement Research, Baryshnikov Art Center, Yaddo, New Music USA, the Brooklyn Arts Council, and has been presented by NYLA/DTW, the 14th St. Y., Art Stations Foundations, Danspace Project, Gibney Dance. Her work deconstructing Zionist folk dance was recognized with a 2018 Bessie nomination for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer and a mention in Dance Magazine’s ‘25 to Watch in 2019’. Ahuvia has shared her research at AJS, ASU, City College, Whitman College, and Yale University among others. She has collaborated with Jaffa based choreographer Shira Eviatar, is a performer with Reggie Wilson/ Fist and Heel Performance group, and is working with Tatyana Tenenbaum in recasting their sonic and embodied jewishness.