Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company returns to Australia after 23 years

In 1973, the year the Sydney Opera House opened, Yehudit Arnon founded a dance company renowned for its daring, spirit and intensity.

Arnon’s motivation for founding the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company could not have been more visceral. At Auschwitz concentration camp, she had been punished by Nazi soldiers for refusing to dance for them at Christmas. Surviving the camp, she dedicated her life to dance.

Four decades on, the acclaimed company will make its Sydney debut at the Opera House, premiering a blistering new work, Horses in the Sky, from August 31 to September 3.

The late Holocaust survivor’s company is now in the hands of dynamic Artistic Director Rami Be’er, who was born at Kibbutz Ga’aton in northern Israel, the company’s home.

Renowned for his work with leading dance companies across the world, Be’er took the reins of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in 1996.

Horses in the Sky delivers a distinctive style of dance with gritty, exuberant and raw movements creating fast-flowing visions of unusual beauty. It’s a work that Be’er describes as “bringing together dreams and a sense of impending apocalypse.”

Featuring 16 exceptional dancers, Horses in the Sky is accompanied by a driving, eclectic soundtrack that includes Björk, Olafur Arnalds and Tim Hecker, creating a darkly immersive, often ecstatic experience.

It showcases Be’er’s choreography and staging, lighting and costume design, in addition to his sound editing, creating an intensity of vision that parallels the audience experience.

Timothy Calnin, head of performing arts at the Opera House, stated, “This limited season of Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company follows successful Sydney Opera House contemporary dance presentations of Sylvie Guillem: Life In Progress (2015), Nederlands Dans Theatre (2013), Mark Morris Dance Group (2015) and Sun (2014) from fellow Israeli Hofesh Shechter. We are thrilled to be bringing Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company to Australia for the first time in 23 years for the Australian premiere of Horses In the Sky. It’s an unmissable work where cutting-edge contemporary dance and music collide.”

For further information on this season at Sydney Opera House, visit www.sydneyoperahouse.com. To learn more about how the company was founded in Israel by Yehudit Arnon, watch the video below.

JUST ANNOUNCED! Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company will host an Open Audition in Sydney, Australia on Sunday, September 4, following the company’s performance series at the Sydney Opera House. This special audition is for its international 5-month and 10-month study abroad Dance Journey program, which is open to dancers ages 18 years and up. The audition will take place from 10 am to 2 pm at Brent Street’s Studio 1, located in The Entertainment Quarter at 122 Lang Road, Moore Park. To register for the audition, head to www.kcdc.co.il/en/AuditionRegistration. The audition will consist of a ballet warm-up and company repertoire. There’s no need to prepare a solo piece. Dancers must bring their CV and headshot and arrive 15 minutes early. Dancers who cannot attend the audition are welcome to email a three-minute audition video along with their CV and headshot to dance@kcdc.co.il. 

Photo: Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company performs Horses in the Sky. Photo by Eyal Hirsh.