ZviDance Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Annual Fall Benefit, 11/12

ZviDance, a company comprised of athletic and lyrical dancers that blends contemporary aesthetics with lush, full-bodied movement, will begin a year-long celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the company with at their Annual Fall Benefit on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 7:30pm at the Judson Memorial Church.

At the Annual Fall Benefit, ZviDance will present Personals (2008), set to "Tuxedo Moon" and "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds."

"The creation of Personals grew out of previous works where I had been reflecting on the psychological construction of the self. Personals is a dance work about the roles people play when seeking a lover. This work is not about how the pageantry of constructed identities becomes a modality for sexual solicitation. I constructed Personals from short solos, each created by the dancers, a collaborative process allowing for each personal 'profile' to bring idiosyncratic material to a parade of human advertising," said Zvi Gotheiner, artistic director of ZviDance.

"The company's charismatic power is sensational. Personals brings emotional qualities of human lifeinto impressive movement codes." - Stuttgarter Zeitung (Ludwigsburg Int'l Festival 2008)

"Changes in tempo seemed effortless, seamlessly hailing pictures with content and stories that flew by like thunder." - Irene Schmidt-Makowiec, Kultur in der Region (Ludwigsburg Int'l Festival 2008)

The dancers include Aaron Carr, Kuan Hui Chew, Alison Clancy, Samantha Harvey, Sera-Kim Huenergard, Kyle Lang, Rommel Salveron, Ying-Ying Shiau, Jocelyn Tobias, Buddy Valdez

Costume design is by Rabiah Troncelliti and lighting design is by Mark London.

The company's 20th Anniversary Season will continue with a World Premiere Performance at Dance Theater Workshop in April of 2010.

ZviDance exists to provide audiences a means of experiencing a world-class dance company with the unique choreographic vision and movement vocabulary of Israeli-born Artistic Director Zvi Gotheiner. Each piece defines a unique set of relationships and experiences, boldly addressing the depths of the human experience. The company performs frequently at home in New York City at venues such as The Joyce Theater, Dance Theater Workshop and Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors. Acting as a cultural ambassador for the city, ZviDance has toured across North America to festivals such as Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and The American Dance Festival, and abroad to Germany, Poland, Russia, Columbia, Brazil, Ecuador and Japan.

Born and raised in Mesilot, an agrarian kibbutz in northern Israel rooted in communal living, Zvi Gotheiner (Artistic Director) arrived in New York City on a dance scholarship from the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation in 1978. Born to Polish parents who immigrated to Israel during the rise of national socialism across Europe, Mr. Gotheiner's work contains a distinct blend of influences ranging from European Expressionism to NYC-based postmodern dance, intertwining concept and movement-based performance into his signature movement vocabulary.

Zvi Gotheiner began his artistic career as a gifted violinist with the Young Kibbutzim Orchestra, where he attained the rank of soloist and Concertmaster at age 15. He began dancing at 17, and soon after formed his first performance group. After arriving in New York, Zvi danced with the Joyce Trisler Dance Company, Feld Ballets/NY and began touring with Bat-Sheva Dance Company. After directing Tamar Ramle and the Jerusalem Tamar Dance Companies in Israel and the Israeli Chamber Dance Company in New York, he founded ZviDance.

The event will take place at the Judson Memorial Church, 239 Thompson Street, NYC. Tickets are $100 ($75 before 10/29) and are available at www.zvidance.com/benefit and by phone at 212-869-7429. For more information, visit www.zvidance.com/benefit.