Eifman makes return with ‘Rodin’ Russian-born choreographer Boris Eifman will return to these shores over the next fortnight with a couple of works – one new and one which is making a return here.The Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg will present its latest creation, Rodin, at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, with a run of five shows starting on July 10. The work is based on the life of the famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin, and focuses on his complex relationship with his troubled muse and lover, Camille Claudel. Claudel was an acclaimed sculptor in her own right, and the epic dance feeds off the tangled web of high emotion between the couple, as well as their respective and combined artistic endeavors.Meanwhile, the first of four performances of Eifman’s Anna Karenina will take place at Herzliya Performing Arts Center tomorrow (9 p.m.). Anna Karenina, based on the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy, enjoyed two previous successful stints in Israel, and is performed to music by Tchaikovsky.For tickets and more information: (03) 692-7700, (03) 604-5000, (03) 546-4333 and www.tks.co.il Waltzing in Jaffa Next Saturday, soprano Maria Yoffe will front the Jerusalem Festival Orchestra under conductor Vladimir Barshevich, in a waltz-based program that includes works from a wide range of composers.The concert will take place in the St. Nicholas Monastery in Old Jaffa on July 13 at 6 p.m., and will features offerings from composers from a wide swath of genres, including Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Strauss, Bellini and Austrian violinist-composer Fritz Kreisler.For tickets and more information: (02) 535-6954 Madridanza makes hat-trick The third edition of the annual Madridanza Spanish dance spectacular will take place at the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv between July 16 and 22.The seven-day program includes performance of flamenco and other contemporary Spanish dance styles, as well as workshops presented by some of the top dance professionals active in Madrid today, and some music-based items.The festival kicks off with the new Titanium work, which is based on intriguing genre-leaping choreography that feeds off flamenco and hip-hop, and is performed by three dancers from each discipline. The work presents the classic Spanish dance form in a contemporary context.Meanwhile, budding flamenco singers and fans of the dramatic vocal style can get a better handle on what it takes to produce the requisite emotive human sounds at the “The Way to Sing Flamenco” slots, which will be fronted by 29-year-old vocalist Maria Toledo.The festival closes on July 22 with a performance of striking flamenco work Adali, starring Aida Gomez along with two male dancers and a nine-piece instrumental ensemble. The work takes the audience along a voyage into the inner emotional workings of the discipline, and incorporates traditional and contemporary performance approaches.For tickets and more information: (03) 510-5656 and www.suzannedellal.org.il Batsheva rises up The Batsheva Dance Company is in the middle of a run of doubleheader shows at the Suzanne Dellal Center, featuring Shula by Los Angeles-based former Batsheva dancer and artistic director Danielle Agami, and Uprising by London-based choreographer and musician Hofesh Shechter, also a former member of the troupe.Each of the works explores a different gender, with Shula looking at the way women take on different personas, and challenging their environment in the process. Meanwhile, Uprising takes an uncompromising perspective on the many facets of masculinity, to a soundtrack composed by Shechter and performed by the seven Batsheva dancers.The next show is today (at 2 p.m.), with more lined up tomorrow (9 p.m.), Wednesday and Thursday (both 9 p.m.) and next Friday (2 p.m.).For tickets and more information: www.batsheva.co.il
Dancers perform Eifman's production of Anna Karenina(photo credit: REUTERS/Fernando Banos)