Rina Schenfeld (; born 1938) is an Israeli choreographer and dancer. As prima ballerina and choreographer of the Batsheva dance company, she was described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as "one of the most important artists of our generation."

Biography

Born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

in 1938, Schenfeld began studying

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...

at the age of 12. After seeing a performance by the world-famous dancer

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

, she switched to

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

, later studying dance at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York. She danced in Israel with the Lyric Theater of Anna Sokolow, and in the United States, where she worked with Graham and other leading choreographers. In 1964, Graham and Baroness Batsheva De Rothschild founded Batsheva, and chose Schenfeld as prima ballerina and choreographer. Schenfeld led the corps to worldwide fame, with works by renowned international choreographers as well as her own creations. In 1978 Schenfeld left Batsheva to found the Rina Schenfeld Dance Theater. She taught a generation of Israeli dancers, and cr eated an eclectic style that incorporated elements of dance theater,

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

, modern and classical."Rina Schenfeld" i
''Dance Life''
, 2011 One original element in her choreography is the use of physical objects in the dance. "Her use of objects guides the imagination to places beyond the dance," wrote a reviewer in ''Dance Life''. "The objects lead to a unique experience and deepen the sense of motion."

Key works

* ''La Sylphide'' (2011), a multimedia work that integrates video, poetry and electronic music with the dance. * ''Dance to the end of love'' (2008), Schenfeld's first multimedia work, including also videoart and singing. * ''Silk threads'' (1983), to music by Menachem Tsur and

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

. Dancers incorporate streams of cloth, branches, and an aquarium. * ''Cans and hair, sticks and balloons'' (1980). The dancer appears with a large tin on her head, and beats time on the tin as she dances.

Awards

*In 2003 she was awarded The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture in the category of Culture and Art, for the field of Dance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schenfeld, Rina Israeli ballerinas Israeli choreographers Israeli women choreographers Israeli Jews 1938 births Living people Juilliard School alumni EMET Prize recipients in Culture and Art

Biography

Key works

Awards

See also

References