Inbal Pinto Dance Company
For Immediate Release, September 15, 2008
Contact: Chad Greenwood 503-245-1600 ext. 205
White Bird Presents Eagerly Awaited Return of Israel's Inbal Pinto Dance Company on October 7 with US Premiere of Shaker, Set in a Magical Dreamscape of Snow and Melting Ice
Who: Inbal Pinto Dance Company
Work: Shaker
Presented by: White Bird
When: Tuesday, October 7
Where: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Sponsor: The Oregonian A&E
Tickets: $20-$50 plus service fee. 20% discount fo students/seniors. 503-790-2787, all Ticketmaster outlest, including the PCPA Box Office. Online at www.ticketmaster.com.
White Bird is delighted to present the eagerly awaited return of Israel’s Inbal Pinto Dance Company, led by Artistic Directors Avshalom Pollak and Inbal Pinto, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Tuesday, October 7 as part of the White Bird Dance Series. White Bird presented their Portland debut in May 2006 when they performed Oyster, described by the Village Voice as “part surreal vaudeville and part toy store after midnight,” which the White Bird audience greeted with a prolonged standing ovation. On October 7, Inbal Pinto Dance Company will return with the U.S. premiere of their new critically acclaimed work Shaker, set in a snowy landscape full of mystery, joy and danger.
Shaker is inspired by the little glass snow globes that fill with snow flakes when shaken. The stage at the Schnitzer will be transformed into a surreal dreamscape of artificial snow, which becomes as much a part of the performance as the dancers themselves. According to Avshalom Pollak, "The world inside the shaker is not necessarily happy. It has it all - good, evil, happy and sad." Pollak adds, "We used the imagery of melting ice. The piece starts off in a frozen state, and slowly, the ice breaks. It is somewhere between dark and silly. When the two sides are tied to each other, they fight, make up, and can't be one without the other." The Jerusalem Post described Shaker as “so beautiful and touching that it hurts, like a poem that strikes the right chords.”
The world of Shaker embodies the boldly theatrical dance for which the Inbal Pinto Dance Company has become renowned. Pinto and Pollak’s movement vocabulary is a seamless blend of modern dance, ballet, mime and acrobatics. Highly theatrical and out-of-the-ordinary costumes and props become an integral part of the choreography. There’s both a satirically nightmarish quality as well as a helping of Dadaist absurdity.
The 12-member Inbal Pinto Dance Company is comprised of a mix of Israeli dancers and actors of varying ages and sizes and is now recognized as one of Israeli’s major contemporary arts organizations. The company is often invited to represent the State of Israel in important festivals and cultural events around the world, as a means of exposing contemporary Israeli culture to an international audience. Premiering in 2006, Shaker was recognized by the Israeli government with an award from the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Inbal Pinto, who received her ballet, modern and jazz dance training in her hometown of Naharia, Israel, began choreographing in 1990 and a year later became a member of the Batsheva Dance Ensemble before joining the main company in 1995. Pinto also studied graphic design at the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem. Her choreographic creations include Dio-can, Versus, Mr. Wow, Chance for 100 (collaborating with Avshalom and Yossi Pollak), Wrapped, Oyster, Boobies, What Good would the moon be…, Shaker, Rushes (in collaboration with Pilobolus), Hydra and Trout. In 2000, she received choreographic awards from the Israeli Ministry of Culture, the City of Tel Aviv, as well as a New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”).
A nationally renowned actor since childhood, Avshalom Pollak graduated from the Nisan Nativ Drama School and appeared in numerous films and television shows, including the hit TV series Florentine. Pollak has performed in several stage productions for the National Theater Habima, Gesher Theater and Haifa Municipal Theater. His roles have included Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Cassio in Othello, Tuzenbach in Three Sisters, among others. His first collaboration with Inbal Pinto was Oyster (1999) followed by Boobies (2002), Gluck’s opera Armide for the Opera House in Wiesbaden, Germany (2004), as well as What Good would the moon be…(2004) , Shaker (2006), Rushes (in collaboration with Pilobolus), Hydra and Trout.
The White Bird Dance Series continues on October 29 with Tero Saarinen Company (Finland), Jan. 28 with Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Feb. 25-27 with Trey McIntyre Project, and April 22 with Compañia Nacional de Danza 2.
Inbal Pinto Dance Company's performance in Portland, OR has been generously supported by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Consulate General of Israel, San Francisco. White Bird’s 11th season (2008-09) is supported by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art, Murdock Charitable Trust, Meyer Memorial Trust, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, The Collins Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Oregon Cultural Trust, and WESTAF.