Hillel Kogan

THISISPAIN

After his international success We Love Arabs, the Israeli choreographer Hillel Kogan returns to Avignon with his new show THISISPAIN, as a tourist coming from contemporary dance to visit the world of Flamenco.
In a provocative and humoristic duet with Mijal Natan –a flamenco dancer- they confront their own world and use the danse not only as an esthetic language, but rather a site of social discourse and of construction of meaning.

THISISPAIN is a conversation that undermines questions of genre, culture and identity, in the spirit of Judith Butler’s queer theory: identity is not an essence but rather a performance.

After We Love Arabs, Hillel Kogan brings about a provocative encounter between contemporary dance and flamenco.

Hillel Kogan - Choreographer

Contemporary choreographer Hillel Kogan works at the crossroads of dance and theater. His pieces combine movement, text and occasional found objects/sounds into a multilayered visual language that intelligently and whimsically navigates itself between subtle and more commentary on the world of dance, popular culture and contemporary society.
Hillel danced with Batsheva Dance Company in Israel and Ballet Gulbenkian in Portugal, and created for dance groups around the world. He is a teacher of Gaga movement language and since 2005 worked as assistant to the Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin.

Mijal Natan - Dancer

Born in Israel, Mijal chose Spanish dance and flamenco after studying different dance styles - ballet, modern, Buto and more.
She began her flamenco journey with the Israeli Flamenco Pioneer Sylvia Duran and continued in Spain where she studied with the great masters Javier Cruz, Manolo Marin, Paco Fernandez and more. She performed at Tablao Flamenco in Madrid and with Miguel Angel's company, España Ballet, in Spain and around the world, with whom she also collaborated. In Israel, Mijal founded in 1997 the Israeli flamenco dance company Compas. She created dozens of productions and establish herself as one of the leaders of the Spanish dance and flamenco scene in Israel. She trains generations of flamenco dancers, and collaborates regularly with various artists around the world.

Distribution

Choreography and text Hillel Kogan
With Hillel Kogan, Mijal Natan
Playwright Yael Venezia
Artistic direction Laetitia Boulud
Ligthing Nadav Barnea
Music advisor Yael Horwitz
French adaptation Noémie Dahan
Technical director Nicolas Priouzeau