A Cooperation between Reut Shemesh and the KELIM Choreography Centre in Bat-Yam (IL)
Showing 11.1.2025, KELIM Choreography Centre
2025/ Performance
In ORA, a new collaboration with the KELIM Choreography Centre in Bat-Yam (IL), Reut Shemesh explores the personal journeys of five dancers. Through images of their childhood and youth — depicting them in both uniforms and casual clothing — the piece examines how their identities have been shaped by the uniforms they once wore, those they have shed, and those they continue to carry.
Expanding on Shemesh’s broader exploration of youth and uniforms, ORA extends this investigation into adulthood, questioning how identity evolves beyond formative years. If uniforms once symbolized belonging, discipline, or ideology, which “uniforms” do we adopt as adults? What remains of the identities we once embraced, and how do they transform over time? The concept of a “shared identity” challenges the traditional notion of identity as purely individual, reframing it as fluid, collective, and shaped by experience.
Weaving together personal and collective histories, the work touches on themes of socio-economic background, religious belief, gender, ethnicity, and age. ORA (Hebrew for “her light”) asks: Where does our history reside, and how does it continue to shape us as adults?
This evocative performance intertwines five distinct yet interconnected identities, offering a fresh perspective on how we carry, reshape, and redefine who we are.
Credits
The creation ORA is a coproduction between the Reut Shemesh Dance Company and the Kelim Choreography Centre, with support from the Israel Lottery Council for Culture and Art and Ministry of Culture and supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Cultural Department of the City of Cologne.
The guest performances of Ora July 10th & December 11th 2025 are supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia in the frame of: Internationale Kulturförderung – Export
The Reut Shemesh Company is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia within the framework of the Spitzenförderung and by the multi-year project funding of the City of Cologne | Cultural Office.
Direction, Choreography: Reut Shemesh
Dance & Creation: Gilad Jerusalmy, Ilana Sarah Claire Bellahsen, Lail Goren, Tzipi Nir, Shahar Hanin/ Avshalom Latocha
Music: Micha Kaplan
Upcoming & Past Performances:
- 11.12.2025, 19.30 & 21.00, Kelim Choreography Centre, Bat-Yam, IL
- 11.1.2025 KELIM Choreography Centre (IL)
- 10.7.2025 Machol Shalem (IL)