PERFORMANCE
“Venezuela” explores context and interpretation. Based on duplication, it presents two executions of the same choreography. In each iteration, the cast, music, and lighting change, imbuing the same movements with different energies that challenge the audience to carry out a different reading.
In a study of possibilities, of excess, Naharin demonstrates how diverse realms can be embodied in the same gesture, if we entrusted it to a different body. The piece is laced with cultural and political references: a Gregorian choir sings a hymn of deep sorrow, the dancers spit raunchy hip-hop bars by the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. at the audience, and white flags-cum-shrouds are drenched in paint and political tones.
Venezuela explores reality and movement that overflow but also collapse under the downpour of meanings, running towards emptiness time after time, in vain. Repetitive and full of contradictions, they underscore the violence alongside beauty, the intensity in the absence of movement, and the elegance of chaotic movement.
Shira Vitaly

COMPANY AND CHOREOGRAPHER
The Ballet of the Ivan pl. Zajc Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka is a company renowned for its ability to blend tradition and innovation. Alongside the great works of the classical repertoire, it has for years been developing a programme open to contemporary forms of expression and to dialogue with some of the most important international choreographers.
The inclusion of *Venezuela* rapresents this commitment to research and experimentation. Originally created for the Batsheva Dance Company, this celebrated work is by Ohad Naharin, born in Israel in 1952, one of the most influential figures in contemporary dance and the creator of the Gaga movement.