Dance moves a step to harmony

FOR leading Israeli choreographer Yasmeen Godder, there’s more to dance than simply art or entertainment. Living in an environment where religious, political and cultural divisions so often and so easily spill into hatred and violence, the

37-year-old Jaffa resident turns her talents to breaking down barriers and forging friendships.

Speaking to The AJN ahead of a production of her acclaimed show Singular Sensation at the Sydney Opera House, Godder reflected on her collaboration with Jaffa’s Jewish-Arab Centre, where the art form is used to encourage tolerance and communication.

“We help people to express emotion through dance,” she says of the program, which she has worked on for the past three years. “When people are engaged in the same activity, it brings them together ‚Ķ so we use dance to promote peace.”

Born and raised in Jerusalem, before moving with her family to New York in 1984, Godder graduated from the High School of the Performing Arts and went on to receive her bachelor of arts from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York ­University.

Since 1999 she has been living in Jaffa and her works have been presented both in her homeland and around the world,  garnering a number of international awards.

Having had her works presented in New York, Tokyo, Berlin and London, next week she is bringing Singular Sensation to Sydney as part of the Spring Dance Festival.

The aim of the show, Godder says, is to explore the idea of creating personal heroes¬† — idealised aspects of themselves that each dancer can develop in conjunction with their own strengths, powers and abilities. She also wants to analyse the connection between a person’s aspirations and their need to connect to bodily sensations.

Godder’s interest in such a theme came from her own curiosity about contemporary society. “I think that people aspire to fulfil their potential, but are disconnected from experiencing something real and sensual,” she explains.

“We worked to fulfil this through physical research and expression, but also through the use of household materials so that the images can be created by anyone.”

Godder seems to enjoy breaking the theatrical convention of the fourth wall, creating an awareness of the production’s stance as a performance rather than real life.

“I think it’s essential for there to be an awareness — on both the parts of the dancers and audience — that it is a show, while there’s also a deeper, authentic process underlying that,” she enthuses.

With five dancers in the production, Godder speaks of her inclination towards intimate works and the way in which each of her productions differ depending on the cast.

“The dancers have a strong impact on the work … I select people who can be collaborators on the process I’m entering, and in that sense each of my works have their own artistic sensibility and rationale.”

Although Godder has been dancing for as long as she can remember and has been a choreographer for 12 years, her transition into choreography and directing has allowed a collaboration between her inspirations and dancing talent, which she so infuses into her work.

The music for Singular Sensation, drawn from several Israeli experimental groups, is as creative as the rest of her ideas. “I brought in some lesser-known groups that work in experimental music in Jerusalem, and while I didn’t expect such coherency, they’ve created a uniquely wonderful and fitting sound scape.”

Singular Sensation is being staged at the Studio, Sydney Opera House, from September 14-19. Bookings: www.sydneyoperahouse.com.

CASSILEE KAHN