Elad Schechter + Rand Ziad Taha & Hala Salem

Hala Salem is a dancer, choreographer, actress, dance teacher, and workshop facilitator living in Deir Hanna. Hala studied theatre and dance at the Western Galilee Academic College and as part of the Haifa Dancers Training Workshop. As a dancer, she participated in video art by Uruguayan photographer Natalia Isaacovitch, in a Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre project, in Motion Trap – an exhibition by artist Samah Shehadeh at the A.M. Qattan Foundation – and in the Dancers in the Community project in Deir Hanna. She has participated in dance workshops and studied classical ballet, modern dance, contact improvisation, and floor work at the Ramallah Municipality summer camp with local and international teachers, and took part in a storytelling workshop with the Amsterdam Storytelling Centre.

A Palestinian dancer from Jerusalem and a BA graduate from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Rand Ziad Taha is a member of the Academy’s Ensemble for three years and of the excellence performance program. In her senior year at the Academy, she wins 3^rd place in the annual Gerturde Strauss Choreography Competition 2018. Rand is chosen for the Henny Jurriens Summer Intensive scholarship 2017 in Amsterdam. In 2018, she performs as part of the B12 Performance project with Helder Seabra. Rand performs with c.a.t.a.m.o.n Dance Group and participates in the CINARS Biennale 2018 in Montréal.

Benoit Larivière has created lighting designs for many productions, working in theatre and music, but mostly specializes in dance. Some of his main achievements include multiple contracts signed with various dance companies such as Tentacle Tribe, 100 Lux, Helen Simard, and Ebnfloh, in addition to working with choreographers such as Ford, Monstapop, Claudia Chan Tak, and Nasim Lootij and theatre companies Multisens, Les Exclamateurs, and Les Écorchés vifs. He approaches lighting in a collaborative spirit with the choreographer/director, drawing his inspiration from their creative universe, always placing great importance on their creative vision. Darkness and absence of lights are major aspects of the way he works, always searching for ways to create images that are independent from the space, the venue in which the creation takes place, or modifying this space.

Born and raised in Jerusalem, Elad Schechter has been creating dance pieces since 2009. In 2012 he founds c.a.t.a.m.o.n Dance Group in Jerusalem. His works have been presented hundreds of times in Israel and abroad, and have received the highest acclaims. Elad is the recipient of the silver medal at the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition in 2011. c.a.t.a.m.o.n Dance Group, under Elad’s artistic direction, is a young cultural organization that maintains a dialogue with the Jerusalem audience in all its diversity, while presenting its work to audiences around the world. Alongside his artistic work, Elad is developing projects that aim to promote dance, art, and the cultural scene in Jerusalem. Elad founded the From Jaffa to Agripas festival, curated Alliance House – a home for creative communities – and more recently, Interstices, a Montréal-Jerusalem choreographic exchange program in collaboration with Tangente.

A Palestinian dancer from Jerusalem and a BA graduate from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Rand Ziad Taha is a member of the Academy’s Ensemble for three years and of the excellence performance program. In her senior year at the Academy, she wins 3^rd place in the annual Gerturde Strauss Choreography Competition 2018. Rand is chosen for the Henny Jurriens Summer Intensive scholarship 2017 in Amsterdam. In 2018, she performs as part of the B12 Performance project with Helder Seabra. Rand performs with c.a.t.a.m.o.n Dance Group and participates in the CINARS Biennale 2018 in Montréal.

Adi Yair is a fashion designer based in Jerusalem with a BA in Jewelry and Fashion from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. She weaves her fabrics by hand on a traditional loom that she uses in a nonstandard way to produce unique materials. She has developed tools and techniques to create woven textures and printing interpretations that speak her own language. Her work combines a traditional technique and a contemporary style that demonstrate a balanced aesthetic of simplicity and sophistication. Adi explores the tension between art and fashion, and retains core values such as balance, logic, and renewal.

Benoit Larivière has created lighting designs for many productions, working in theatre and music, but mostly specializes in dance. Some of his main achievements include multiple contracts signed with various dance companies such as Tentacle Tribe, 100 Lux, Helen Simard, and Ebnfloh, in addition to working with choreographers such as Ford, Monstapop, Claudia Chan Tak, and Nasim Lootij and theatre companies Multisens, Les Exclamateurs, and Les Écorchés vifs. He approaches lighting in a collaborative spirit with the choreographer/director, drawing his inspiration from their creative universe, always placing great importance on their creative vision. Darkness and absence of lights are major aspects of the way he works, always searching for ways to create images that are independent from the space, the venue in which the creation takes place, or modifying this space.

Rand Taha and I met at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. We started working together right after she finished her bachelor’s degree there. We found a mutual language in movement and we laughed a lot in the process of creating Premiere as a personal solo revealing Rand’s cultural background. We realized that we share an understanding that life is seamed from bits and moments, and we found pleasure in just being, creating, moving next to each other; making a strong statement by overcoming an obvious obstacle and focusing on creativity as a path for partnership.