“A weakness can be a diamond”
Etay Axelroad is an amazing dancer who has been working in Batsheva Dance Company for 6 years and he joined GoteborgOperans Danskompani in 2020.
-You have a really outstanding career, working with two of the best contemporary companies: Batsheva Dance Company and now GoteborgsOperans Danskompani. What is the key to your success?
“First of all, I just want to say that everything I say is very personal and related to my way, what feeds me. I feel I don’t have the right to say anything.
I don't think success is about how great one carrier is, but more about how one is working with oneself and so the process itself is more satisfying and ''successful'' than the result. When I take a ballet class for example, my feeling of success has to do with the pleasure of practice, workout, and the small achievements in an exercise. I’m learning a little bit of playing piano now and my success is to make the right timing or to not make mistakes. And then the rest will come, maybe in different ways. But at the same time being able to enjoy bad days and not giving up. All in all the focus of the pleasures we take in doing the things we love. And then the rest will come, maybe in different ways.”
-What fascinates you about Ohad Naharin’s work? How can you define his work?
“I think what I really really love about Ohad’s work is the way he can manipulate his audience into feeling something really strong, without knowing that. For me, when I watched Ohad, the first thing I saw, I felt sucked into a world that is always moving. For me, it is the ideal world. But I didn’t know what was happening, I couldn’t point out, I couldn’t say there is a story, but I was just paralyzed. I felt so strong emotion but I didn’t know why, or how, and I think that is the beauty of his work for me.”
-What represents for you the Batsheva Dance Company?
“Ohad Naharin”
-What is the importance of Gaga in your dance? What did this practice teach you?
“I think Gaga has given me tools to improve myself as a mover and my listening and awareness to my body, through my habits and through how I think I dance/I look, and that is why we worked without mirrors.
But I think also Gaga is part of me, of who I am and I think all the dancers who worked with him helped Gaga evolve and change through the years.”
-Why did you decide to change and join GoteborgsOperans Danskompani? What were you fascinated by this company?
“When I was in high school, my dream was to dance outside of Israel. But, when I was in Batsheva, we almost always worked on Ohad’s pieces, and with Ohad and it was amazing, it was powerful, deep, challenging, it was a journey. But then, I had an opportunity to work with other choreographers such as Sharon Eyal and it happened that one choreographer really blew my mind. She changed all the company dancers’ lives, she was amazing. She came to us without even knowing what Gaga was. Her work was so different, but the way she treated us was amazing: embracing the way that I have never experienced with anyone else in my life. She made us fall in love with her completely. This process made me realize how much I want to learn and experience more with various artists and choreographers. And this is one of the reasons why I decided to come here because we have the opportunity to work every time with different choreographers.”
-How did you develop your own artistry?
“First of all, I think I’m not there yet. I think it is still ongoing and it is a lot about me or my creative side. It has a lot to do with my personality, very much about what I’m missing in dance, in my work, in the studio, things that I like, that I want to learn. Many times, it is about things that I cannot do. My personality is really about breaking limits and doing what people tell me not to do. I slowly started to be really interested in people, in how I treat people and how I have been treated and how I want to change that when I work with people because I think once I put myself in a place of creating something with a group of dancers, they cannot help me in my vision. This gives me a lot of power in a way. Now I’m working with 7 dancers and I realized how hard it is to work with a lot of people and to try to do what you want and be aware and sensitive at the same time towards everyone. And try to satisfy everyone, give space to everyone. Communication becomes very important but I’m not really good with words. I’m trying to be better in that also related to how I treat dancers and I want to treat dancers. In a creation, I don't like the feeling of hierarchy and the tags we sometimes get. It is better to leave it open so that people can expose different colors they have in them on different days. work with that. Celebrate more of the different colors between people and within each person as well. Also sometimes a very bad day in life for me can bring great creativity! It never works if I block or ignore that negative feeling.”
-How important is it to respect the uniqueness of each dancer?
“It is such an important thing and subject. Everybody has something that is really unique, that many times is hidden because of social circumstances or other reasons. It is hard to create a domain for that and it needs awareness and intention. For me, when working with people I am looking for places of weakness and I'm trying to allow them to become a diamond (because they are). Sometimes dancers don't notice just how much beauty is hidden in them”.
-And how important is also the process of improvisation and researching?
“Different people and different dancers have different means and colors and that is beautiful. For me, improvisation was part of my life, way before Gaga. This is also how I started dancing: nobody told me “do this or that”. And, of course, Gaga gives me a lot of tools of the way of thinking and how to approach movement. Part of why I decided to leave Batsheva is because I wanted to research more of my personal stuff and myself, detach from Gaga and Ohad. It was a more personal process of understanding how I research myself, my own stuff without taking Gaga, talking with that language. But for me, improvisation has a lot to do with music, because for me music and dance are quite the same because they are both movements and we are talking in the same terms (heavy, light, tempo, rhythm). But of course, I am completely influenced by Gaga and Ohad’s work, but now I’m discovering my own way of perceiving and researching: this is evolution, not copying but learning and developing”.
-How can you define “technique” and why is it important?
“I think technique has to do with practice and some kind of rules or frames that you choose”.
-What do you most like about dance life?
“Because you can move all the time. I cannot sit still, that is why I started to dance”.
-Do you think that dancing is an individual practice? In what measure do you think is important the connection with your colleagues?
“First of all I really think dance is for everyone and I wish people could dance more. And in some cultures, mostly warm countries, you have a bit more of a culture of dancing and moving, while in other places it is a bit hold back.
Dance of course has a lot to do with body connection, but also with human connections, I think it is always best to connect physically and emotionally to others.
What kind of characteristics in a contemporary dancer are you interested in?
“I really appreciate people who love dance, people who move their body: they can be really quiet and introverted but still love to move so much. I really appreciate honesty and directness. It is many times such a hard thing to do, especially coming from dance school. In order to really work together, both the choreographer and the dancer, need to share the full range of thoughts and emotions towards the work. When I am in the front of the room, I try to create a safe space for dancers to feel that they can be honest and direct with me and not suppress their feelings, without fearing that this honesty might jeopardize the way I treat them as people.
Open Mindness, Openness, and I really love people who enjoy work, because I like to work with my body as well: I think there is a lot of satisfaction when you sweat, dig into things, discover new things, being physical and passionate.”
-Can you give some advice to young dancers?
“We shouldn't take so much for granted. We own our bodies, our minds and our dancing especially. That is unique and right because it is ours ! We should be respectful and sensitive to one another of course, but our dancing and the expression of our inner world of feelings and thoughts is right and legitimate. We live in a world that is more progressed than the past. Breaking boxes and habits but sometimes creating new ones that can hurt us as well. The beauty of art in my eyes is that we should always be able to express our inner world. So remember, you are always right.”
Thank you so much Etay! It was such an honor for us.
Comments