He Said-She Said: Adama’s Nir Ben-Gal Talks to our Deborah Friedes
Enjoy this latest podcast
Enjoy this latest podcast
Photo courtesy of Nir Ben-Gal and Liat Dror
Photos by Deborah Friedes
The several hour trek south from Tel Aviv to Mizpe Ramon in the Negev
desert is tiring, but at the end of the journey is a refreshing oasis:
Adama, an extraordinary dance center created by Liat Dror and Nir Ben
Gal. I first experienced the magic of Adama during a two-day visit in
January and was thrilled to return this April for some more dancing
and, of course, two interviews!
When I turned off the digital voice recorder that evening at midnight, I thanked
Nir Ben-Gal for speaking with me. Not only had he been generous with
his time and energy – we started the interview late at night, after he
had led the warm-up for a spirited dance jam at Adama!
- but he was extraordinarily generous with his thoughts and his
passion. Besides talking about his pathway into dance, his creative
process, and the workings of Adama, Nir shared his outlook on dance,
religion, culture, healing, and non-violence. It was an inspiring
conversation that continues to surface in my thoughts even outside of
my research. May you be similarly moved!
batsheva said:
May 22, 08 at 9:31 amThis is one of those interviews that can be life-examining, if you let it be. You need to be able to take almost an hour from what is probably already a stuffed-to-the-gills day and then be prepared to have moments of Nir Ben-Gal’s words filter into your thoughts as you become aware of what you just ordinarily do on “automatic pilot”. Deborah knows when to “simply” stand back; she understood that this was about what “he said” — not what “she said”.