’Rhythm in Motion’ by Israeli dancers Sheketak
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Fulya Özerkan
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 14, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - The Israeli group Sheketak, which is composed of dancers and musicians and has so far performed in more than 30 countries around the world, was in Ankara last week as part of the Ankara Music Festival. ’We follow the path of the international language of art,' says director Zahi Patish.
Combining dance and live music in their unique show "Rhythm in Motion," Israeli group Sheketak performed at the annual Ankara Music Festival last week, making Turkey the opening stop of its European spring tour.
"We attribute very much importance to Turkey. The production brought here for the festival is our biggest one," Zahi Patish, one of the directors and founders of Sheketak, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview.
"Rhythm in Motion" is a multi-media show, a mixture of different arts created by Patish and the group's other founder Danny Rachom.
"Danny and I know each other from childhood. Over the years the group has developed and we started to create bigger productions," said Patish.
Sheketak was founded in 1997 as a group of five dancers and musicians. Today Sheketak Productions is a company of 20 artists performing all around the world.
Verbal use of rhythm
What does "Sheketak" mean? "We work a lot with rhythm, especially the verbal use of rhythm. Sheketak is like the word of rhythm. Also in Hebrew, 'sheke' means silence. 'Sheke' and 'tak' mean silence and sound. We feel what the group does in the show is move between moments of silence and moments of sound," Patish said.
The core of the group is composed of dancers with a good sense of rhythm, but the members should also have the ability to act because the show includes small pantomimes. "The show is just like a journey that needs a lot of energy and power. You must be very physical to do that," said Patish.
Another question of curiosity is if the group receives reaction from audiences due to their nationality.
"Sometimes," said Patish. "I can tell you one incident that happened in France. When the festival staff introduced us 'Now Sheketak from Israel' a group of people in the audience started whistling. We ignored it and started the show and about three minutes later the guys who protested slowly sat down. At the end of the show they were standing and clapping. For us it was the best way to answer because we did our own thing instead of confronting them."
Patish said as a group they had nothing to do with politics. "Our art doesn't have a say on the political level," he said. "We take a different road; we don't come from a religious or a political front. Sheketak has performed in more than 30 countries around the world and my proof is the fact that people laugh and clap at the same moments no matter where we are performing. We follow the path of the international language of art."
He said the concept of the show doesn't suggest politics but instead pursues positive energy and fun with a lot of ideas and imagination. He said political questions are what is expected because it is the political situation that is at the top of the world's news agenda. "But Israel is not only about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It is also about other things. I think we are here to represent some other things," he said.
Israel's military campaign launched in late December into Gaza drew reactions from Turkey as well as the public, who have shown greater sympathy to the cause of the Palestinians. Did the group have any reservations about performing in front of a Turkish audience? Patish said the manager of the Israeli basketball team, which was protested in Ankara, was his uncle who told him to be careful in Turkey.
The European Cup game between Israel's Bnei Hasharon and Türk Telecom in January was postponed when the Israeli team did not return to the court after fleeing to the changing room when hundreds of Turkish fans protested the violence in Gaza.
Turkey is 'influential'
Patish said it was not his first time in Turkey. "We have performed here before, but never with this production team. We did some commercial shows for private companies," he said. For him, Turkey is a "very beautiful country that combines cultures and that can have a very good influence on other countries in the region to become like that."
Sheketak will perform 20 more shows in Europe and in the summer they will be in Germany for 25 more shows.
"We attribute very much importance to Turkey. The production brought here for the festival is our biggest one," Zahi Patish, one of the directors and founders of Sheketak, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview.
"Rhythm in Motion" is a multi-media show, a mixture of different arts created by Patish and the group's other founder Danny Rachom.
"Danny and I know each other from childhood. Over the years the group has developed and we started to create bigger productions," said Patish.
Sheketak was founded in 1997 as a group of five dancers and musicians. Today Sheketak Productions is a company of 20 artists performing all around the world.
Verbal use of rhythm
What does "Sheketak" mean? "We work a lot with rhythm, especially the verbal use of rhythm. Sheketak is like the word of rhythm. Also in Hebrew, 'sheke' means silence. 'Sheke' and 'tak' mean silence and sound. We feel what the group does in the show is move between moments of silence and moments of sound," Patish said.
The core of the group is composed of dancers with a good sense of rhythm, but the members should also have the ability to act because the show includes small pantomimes. "The show is just like a journey that needs a lot of energy and power. You must be very physical to do that," said Patish.
Another question of curiosity is if the group receives reaction from audiences due to their nationality.
"Sometimes," said Patish. "I can tell you one incident that happened in France. When the festival staff introduced us 'Now Sheketak from Israel' a group of people in the audience started whistling. We ignored it and started the show and about three minutes later the guys who protested slowly sat down. At the end of the show they were standing and clapping. For us it was the best way to answer because we did our own thing instead of confronting them."
Patish said as a group they had nothing to do with politics. "Our art doesn't have a say on the political level," he said. "We take a different road; we don't come from a religious or a political front. Sheketak has performed in more than 30 countries around the world and my proof is the fact that people laugh and clap at the same moments no matter where we are performing. We follow the path of the international language of art."
He said the concept of the show doesn't suggest politics but instead pursues positive energy and fun with a lot of ideas and imagination. He said political questions are what is expected because it is the political situation that is at the top of the world's news agenda. "But Israel is not only about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It is also about other things. I think we are here to represent some other things," he said.
Israel's military campaign launched in late December into Gaza drew reactions from Turkey as well as the public, who have shown greater sympathy to the cause of the Palestinians. Did the group have any reservations about performing in front of a Turkish audience? Patish said the manager of the Israeli basketball team, which was protested in Ankara, was his uncle who told him to be careful in Turkey.
The European Cup game between Israel's Bnei Hasharon and Türk Telecom in January was postponed when the Israeli team did not return to the court after fleeing to the changing room when hundreds of Turkish fans protested the violence in Gaza.
Turkey is 'influential'
Patish said it was not his first time in Turkey. "We have performed here before, but never with this production team. We did some commercial shows for private companies," he said. For him, Turkey is a "very beautiful country that combines cultures and that can have a very good influence on other countries in the region to become like that."
Sheketak will perform 20 more shows in Europe and in the summer they will be in Germany for 25 more shows.