Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

The Anti-Puppet Master

Crossposted from Haaretz

Image by Getty Images

“I have a small obsession: to get dancers to take their bodies and brains farther,” says choreographer Jacopo Godani. “An animal-like, emotional and physical approach to dancing is very important, but if the brain does not control the body, the body has a tendency to repeat its movements. Unfortunately, most dancers are programmed by their first learning experiences. But if they make room for the brain, it is capable of causing the body to do more complicated and advanced things. The body always responds to the memories stored in its muscles.”

This idea is central to the professional outlook of the Italian artist, who has worked and established himself in Germany but lives in France, and is visiting Israel right now. He was invited by the Israeli Opera and the Suzanne Dellal Center as part of their project — a joint, international repertory dance endeavor — to mount a new work with local dancers. Godani’s “Light Years” will premier tomorrow night (Tuesday) at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center Opera House; the program also includes “Super Nova” by Marco Goecke, a German choreographer, and “Through the Center” by Israeli Emanuel Gat; the performance will be staged again on Friday, December 10, at 2 p.m.

Read more at Haaretz.com

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.