Blog 7- Echad Mi Yodea

 

Echad Mi Yodea (Who Knows One) by Ohad Naharin begins on a dark stage, the atmosphere of brooding shadows. Only the feet of the dancers are lit revealing them positioned in an arc around the perimeter of the stage.

A poem is spoken by a man with a deep, soothing voice followed by africa-like rythm as the dancers are revealed hunched-over on their chairs.

The piece begins with a cannon from stage right to left, The dancers bend backwards over their chairs, their legs sprawled out as if being shot before returning lethargically to their hunched-over position. This abrupt movement causes the last dancer in the cannon (stage left) to fall off their chair, completely collapsing to the ground, while the rest of the dancers stand rigidly upright and resite words to the song.

At this point I notice that the dancers are both male and female. They are wearing the same black suit, shoes and white button up as if to eliminate the differences between them.

A clicking noise then interrupts the panic for just a moment before the dancers go ballistic and rip off their blazers, throwing them to centre stage. Piece by piece the dancers rip off more clothing to reveal the same grey vest and shorts, as if they have stripped away everything and thus revealing who they are underneath. The dancer however, who is always falling to the floor still wears all of his clothes. 

The piece ends with the clicking noise as the lights dim and the fallen dancer retreats slowly to his hunched position on his chair.

In the first piece I reviewed of Ohad Naharin, there was a tenderness and relationship between the dancers on stage and the contact between them. In this piece however, it feels as though there is seperation, lonliness and angst. It feels as though the dancers rarely see each other, that they are all struggling with the same thing…alone.

Bibliography:

Batsheva Dance Company. (2016) Echad Mi Yodea by Ohad Naharin performed by Batsheva- the Yound Ensemble.April. Available at: https://youtu.be/7v6tY_u-Mls?si=9G_Z5Iy6nxT_Grx [Accessed 19 November 2023]

La Cellule Choregraphique. (date unknown) Numeridanse. Available at: https://www.numeridanse.tv/en/dance-videotheque/echad-mi-yodea [Accessed 19 November 2023]