Vertigo Dance Company – One. One & One

Constant exploration of human nature and the connection of humankind and art to the Earth and the environment are at the heart of the work of the famous Vertigo Dance Company, founded in Israel in 1992. The ingenious choreographer and co-founder of the team, Noa Wertheim, created One. One & One in 2017 to comment on the deep inner desire -but also the need- for people to feel fulfilled and complete in the face of the endless challenges posed by a fractured reality.

Social, spiritual, and deeply psychological issues enter into a direct dialogue through an “artistic battle over your senses,” according to Time Out magazine. External and internal, private and public worlds, sounds coming from every possible direction, our relationship to the nearby and the distant, to ourselves and to each other, all provide material for the choreography. As the action develops, the dancers cover the scene with earth. Our vision and hearing have already been activated, and the smell of the earth adds yet another dimension, creating an immersive sensory experience. This journey of the senses, as described by The Jerusalem Post, is complemented by the dreamlike music composed especially for this choreography by Avi Balali -dynamic and enjoyable at the same time.

The dance group is based at the Vertigo Ecological Village, located at Israel’s Netiv HaLamed-Heh kibbutz. For ten years this village has been not only the group’s base,  a postmodern artists’ community, but also a place where international workshops and master classes for dance are held. The connection to the environment is direct. We see this at once in One. One & One through the use of soil on the stage. In this village everything is recycled; rainwater is collected and used; the chef prepares food using only local products; and all areas are completely accessible to disabled dancers. One. One & One was created to celebrate the group’s 25-year anniversary, and it contains all the principles that characterize the Vertigo Dance Company.

The title of the choreography comes from a well-known phrase that is repeated in the celebration of Yom Kippur. “One. One and one. One and two. One and three. One and four. One and five. One and six. One and seven.” Eight dancers in dynamic solos and then their encounter with the others outline the dialogue of the individual with herself or himself and then with the others. At the same time, their feet take root in the soil that unites everything, in the shared space of people who create communities. As its creator, Noa Weirtheim, says: “There’s a lot of emotional depth in the work. I’m not a political person, this is about mortals and ego, and the earth we walk on.”