AHARONA ISRAEL – BIOGRAPHY
Aharona Israel is a choreographer, performance artist and a theater maker based in Tel Aviv, Israel. She received her dance training at the Rubin Academy for Dance in Jerusalem and at the European Dance Development Centre in Arnhem, Holland (today Artez). Aharona holds a B.Arch in Architecture, from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem and is currently pursuing an MFA in Theater Studies at Tel Aviv University.
In 2009, Aharona returned to Israel after eight years in Holland. She received a grant for Distinguished Returning Artists from the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption.
Her works vary from choreography to physical theater, live art performances and choreographic installations, often combining movement and text. Aharona creates and presents work in theatrical spaces as well as in alternative and outdoor spaces, to which she brings her understanding of space as an architect. In her work, she often questions the preconceived roles that are established during the event of a performance.
Her choreographies relate to intimate physical research of body and movement with a strong sensibility towards political themes such as gender, femininity, power dynamics, hierarchies and other social themes. As a female performer and an Israeli, Aharona is engaged in an ongoing exploration of her identity. She creates work out of the desire to reflect on life, be it personal or the social. Her recent works ‘Proportion’ ( premiered at Intimadance Festival 2018) and ‘Textile and Flesh’ (May2019) are two Solos dealing with female body representation. In 2021, she renewed ‘At your service’ – a performance for a single audience with blindfolds, which is a response to Covid-19 period, its influences on the private body and on the cultural world.
Aharona has presented work in festivals and cultural centers around the world such as in Italy (Altofest, Naples), Germany (Tufa Festival, Trier, Societaet Theater, Dresden and The Stubnitz Boat Project), Poland (THEATROMANIA Festival, Bytom), Canada (Chutzpah Festival, Vancouver, Summerworks Festival, Toronto, Progress Festival at The Theatre Center Toronto, M.A.I Center, Montreal, Arts Court, Ottawa and Public Energy, Peterborough), The Netherlands (Architecture Biennale 2005, Rotterdam, Color Dance Festival, Ostade Theater, Perdu Center of the Arts, Muiderport Theater Amsterdam) and Russia (Ludi Festival, Orel). In Israel, her work has been seen at the Suzanne Dellal Center, Tmuna Theater, the Acco Festival, Tzavta Theater, Machol Shalem Dance Center, Jerusalem and in the Bat Yam Festival.
As a performer, Aharona has participated in solo works as well as collaborated with various international artists such as Emmanuel Grivet (RF), Pauline de Groot (NL), Rob List (NL), BEWTH Co. (NL), Felix Ruckert (DE), Yumiko Yoshioa (DE), Karl Frost (USA) and various artists in Israel. From 2009 through 2011, she had worked with Impulse Dance Improvisation Ensemble.
Aharona was an artist at residence in different venues in Israel and abroad such as Das Andere Theater in Graz, Austria (2014), Gabirol Center of the Arts, Tel Aviv (2014-2016), M.A.I Center in Montreal, Canada (2016), Re-Search Dance Center in Netanya, Israel (2017), Stage Center in Tel Aviv (2017) and Factory in Bat Yam, Israel (2018-2019), as a guest at Kaeja d’dance company Toronto (2019) and at Magid center Tel- aviv (2022)