MEDIATHEK

Renana Raz is a leading voice in the young generation of Israeli choreographers. She creates, dances and teaches in the leading art academies and institutes of Israel. Raz began creating independently in 1999. In 2002 and 2003 she won the Israeli Ministry of Culture award for young choreographers, two years in a row. In 2004 Raz won the choreography prize at the Annual Theatre Awards for the choreography and movement for the theatre play "Osher" directed by Miki Gurevitz (Jerusalem Khan Theater). During 2006 Renana was presented the Young Artist Rosenblum Award and the Ministry of Culture award for choreographers. Raz's creations have been staged in Israel, Brazil, Germany, Poland, Holland and most recently Japan to the acclaim of both audiences and theatre/dance critics. Renana Raz has received grants from the "Yehoshua Rabinovitz" Foundation, the National Lottery Company, BI-ARTS (the British Council's British Israeli Arts Training Scheme) and Buchman Heiman. In 1999 Raz created her first solo piece named Onion Tears. During the following year she created, wrote and directed With Joy Always – a dance monodrama. In 2000 Renana was invited to present this piece at the Curtain-up Festival and at the Habima Theatre – Israel's National theatre - in Tel Aviv. In 2001 Renana created Florentino, a solo piece which was premiered at the Shades of Dance Festival in Tel Aviv. 'We Have Been Called To Go', dealing with the powerful symbols in Israeli culture and society, marked the beginning of Raz's ensemble work. She created this work in 2002 and the same year it was performed twice at the Susanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv - at the Curtain Up Festival and at the International Exposure Festival.This piece, which both audiences and critics described as "delightful" put Raz in the forefront of the Israeli dance scene as a humorous yet profound choreographer. Since 2002 Raz has been invited to create works for a number of dance companies which includes 'Good Measures' for the Muza Dance Company and 'Do and Redo' for the Noa Dar Dance Company. Since 2003 her creations have been premiered on an annual basis as part of the Curtain Up Festival – 'Asking for Stars' (2003), Phantoms (2004),and Motel (2005) which she created in collaboration with Ofer Amram. In 2006 Raz created 'Kazuaria'. A piece for five female dancers inspired by 'Debka', a Druze folklore dance which is usually danced by men. During 2007 she collaborated with the Israeli Druze Folklore Dance Company and together performed in a joint evening 'Kazuaria- Debka in Tel-Aviv'. During 2007 she created 'The Tribe' for the Aura Dance Company in Lithuania the piece was awarded by statue "Fortune" by the city of Kaunas. In 2008 Raz was invited by Habima National Theatre to create a piece for the Israeli Festival in Jerusalem. She collaborated with Ofer Amram and together they created 'OV' a Dance Theatre piece inspired by the classical Jewish play 'The Dybbuk'. On November 2008 Raz gave workshop in Cameroon Africa. She worked with local dancers for a week and presented 'work in process'. On July 2009 Raz created a solo piece 'Mickey Mouse' for the famous Israeli Theatre Director Miki Gurevich, for the 'Intimadance' Festival. Currently Raz is staying in Dallas, Texas as an artist in residency at Utd and Centraltrack,with the support of the Schusterman Family Foundation. (Quelle: www.renanaraz.com) / jst