The year: 1968
The place: Batsheva Dance Company studios in Tel Aviv
Audition for: The formation of Bat-Dor Dance Company
I came across a tiny listing in Ha’aretz Newspaper reading:
Audition for Batsheva Dance Company
Call (03) xxx-xxxx. I called! I obtained the information – I was told I would participate in a Graham class (what’s that?) and also show a solo piece… I set up to prepare…
Having never had any dance training (other than some warming up routines before Folk Dance rehearsals), I had to kind’a invent everything from scratch. So, I selected a short section from Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and recorded myself playing a piano version of it on a reel-to-reel machine (Remember those?). With the reel tape, a pair of Rhythmic Dance shoes (they were far from resembling actual ballet shoes), and comfortable pants and T-shirt (I knew nothing about tights and leotards) I set off on my journey to the big city (Tel Aviv).
The studio was large and intimidating. The panel was seated in front, including Bat-Dor’s founder Mrs. Batsheva de Rothschild and artistic director Jeanette Ordman – she surely looked like a dancer to me, with her slim athletic body, hair pulled tight and somewhat exaggerated makeup! The class was taught by Ehud Ben David, a prominent dancer of Batsheva Dance Company, and indeed I learned that this was a class in the Marta Graham technique. We sat on the floor and had to execute all these moves and bounces which, for my body, were excruciating! I felt – and surly looked – like a total amateur! But I must have impressed them with something! They invited me for the second round – to show my solo.
So, with my funny shoes, and loosely hanging T-Shirt I set up to dance Peter and the Wolf. I later learned that some of my invented moves were actually the reverse of what they would be in traditional ballet, but hey, I was close!
Following the audition, we were told to expect a call within the next few days… When no phone call came, I gathered my nerves and called. On the other end of the line was the voice of the company’s secretary, who plainly and simply uttered the devastating phrase: “Sorry, you were not accepted”, Silence… Silence… and she hung up, while I was still holding the phone to my ears and seeing in my mind’s eye how my very future in dance has collapsed before it even started. Well, not quite!
On to my second audition. ‘The Dance Music Hall of Israel’, created and directed by Yonatan Karmon, was auditioning for a tour to the U.S. and South Africa. And the genre of dance was much more familiar to me: Israeli Folk Dance. I made it! And off we went on a wonderful tour.
Among the dancer’s of the troupe was a wonderful and cheerful young woman, named Ruth Gelman. Ruth and I struck a wonderful friendship and lent each other mental support during moments of hardship and fatigue. We always sat together on the long bus rides. One day she turned to me and said: “Why are you dancing folk dance? The way you move and dance is more like a ballet dancer…” I was in heaven – someone has recognized my talent! Ruth went on to say: “When we return to Israel, you should enroll at the Bat Dor school of Dance” and quickly added “You can stay with me and my mom, all expensed taken care of…” I was in heaven again…” and so, upon returning to Israel I moved in with Ruth and Mom, and on the following day went to register for the school. My first class was with, believe it or not, a teacher named Igal (Igal Berdichevsky). I had such mixed emotions, all the way from “What on earth am I doing here”, to “I LOVE this stuff”. I remember a moment when he asked me to do a Tour en l’air (It’s a jump with the legs drawn together, a revolution in the air and, hopefully a soft landing). I did it! Next, he asked me to do a double tour. “What’s a double tour?” I humbly uttered, and he smiled and said: “It’s the same jump, but this time turn around twice in the air”. I did it! (Was I just without fear or was it the lack of knowledge which helped me not be too critical of myself – I will never know). Mr. Berdichevsky was moved and called the director in to have a look. Who stepped through the door? Ms. Jeanette Ordman, the very same Director who watched me at the audition and decided I was not suitable for the company. I was secretly trembling inside. But as she stepped into the room and glanced in my direction she exclaimed: “Yoooouuuu are the boy from the audition! Where were you? We were looking for you”. I explained that I was informed by the secretary of my failure, and consequently took off on a Folk-Dance tour with Karmon.
She barely let me finish my sentence and exclaimed again: “No, No No! You must come here and study with us!” – I received a full scholarship! And my professional career as a dancer was to start a month later when I was invited to join the company!
If it weren’t for Ruth, I would most probably have gone on to pursue a medical career, but life moves in mysterious ways…
photos: personal
