The Wisdom of Youth

One of the many cool things about having children who are old enough and engaged enough in the world to find their own interests is that I get to learn from them. My 16 year-old, for instance, closely follows the solo careers of the members of One Direction, so I've learned from her that Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan make some really decent music.

From my other kid, I'm learning more about dance and different movement theories. Netflix features a documentary called 'Move', which tells stories of dancers and choreographers from around the world. On Thanksgiving, we watched an episode about Ohad Naharian's Gaga movement language. From 1990 to 2018, Naharian was the artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, where he developed Gaga, a flowing, loose-limbed style that pushes dancers to connect with their bodies in space. (I don't know, man, that's just what it looks like to me - judge for yourself.)

Naharian has extended the principles of Gaga to non-dancers, with a global series of online and in-person classes designed to teach people "to connect to their bodies and imaginations, experience physical sensations, improve their flexibility and stamina, exercise their agility and explosive power, and enjoy the pleasure of movement in a welcoming, accepting atmosphere."

As seen in 'Move', and in other publicly-available videos, Naharian is both very serious about his work, and capable of being sublimely silly in trying to unlock his dancers' inhibitions. Almost...Gheorghie, if you will. Here's an example where he leads a large group. Dig it.

My daughter informed us that it's her professional goal to dance for Batsheva. In Tel Aviv. Expanding her horizons, expanding her parameters. I didn't think she'd get into a dance program as well-regarded as VCU's, so who am I to doubt her.