As the executive and artistic director of American Dance and Music and the Dance Hub Santa Barbara, I am writing in response to an opinion piece posted by the Independent entitled “Boycott Batsheva Dance Company.” The Voice calls for a boycott of the company’s Granada Theatre performance on February 25 “until the company cancels and renounces its relationship to Israeli artwashing.”
I reject the premise of “artwashing.” It doesn’t matter why Israel supports Batsheva nor should the company be forced to take a political stand by anyone. But it is vitally important that they are supported and that the dancers can do their work, and we can see them in the theatre. Naharin’s choreography always digs deep, uplifts, moves, and inspires with its gut-wrenching inventiveness and humanity. To see and feel it should not depend on where you park your politics.
I fully support the Batsheva Dance Company’s appearance tomorrow night at The Granada Theatre and encourage our community to experience where dancing at this level of intensity can take you.
As an outstanding, original voice in contemporary dance, Ohad Naharin’s work is powerful and appreciated by audiences all over the world. I had the opportunity to learn and perform one of his works, “Tabula Rasa,” when I was at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. It was a unique and unforgettable experience. Those that want you to boycott Naharin and Batsheva are injecting their questionable political agendas into a space that celebrates acts of beauty, love, and compassion, and both light and darkness.
I reject this senseless call for a boycott and joyfully support the power of dance to transcend hate and politics. See you in the theater.
