Sharon Eyal
From Anna Bandettini's interview in D la Repubblica, 06/18/2023
From body to soul
It may be that her dance breaks out of conventional canons: it is contemporary but also classical and clubbing culture. It may be the complex rhythm of the sensual and tense bodies of her dancers, the physical precision and explosive energy, the deep and dark vitality resulting from a decidedly feminine choreographic sensibility. What is certain is that all her performances enchant, are an emotional immersion, without fear of being excessive. Just like her, Sharon Eyal, internationally renowned Israeli choreographer, 52 years old, beautiful with extravagant hairstyles and whimsical makeup, above all very good: past from muse of Ohad Naharin's legendary Batsheva Dance Company (until 2018) to owner since 2013 of her own company, L-E-V (Hebrew for "heart"). Which he leads with his partner Gai Behar, producing such hits as Love Cycle, with the resounding Chapter 3: The Brutal Journey of the Heart applauded to Torino-Danza. "to Spoleto you will see something different," warns Sharon Eyal when speaking to us about her new creation from her country home in France, where she is staying with her family. It is titled Into the Hairy and will be on stage at Festival dei Due Mondi, directed from Monique Veaute, from June 30 to July 3.
Co-produced by the festival in collaboration with Ursuline 28, it has a title "that is full of references and meanings, not least because of the assonance between hairy, furry, and Harry, disorienting," Sharon jokes. It is a show about loneliness, love and much more. "It touches deep feelings, connected to the moment we live in, but it's also an intimate, secret, sad and very physical project that laid to bare my soul." It was an urgency, "like when you have something inside and you can't wait to throw it out."
Seven dancers are on stage, in "lace jumpsuits that look like they were ripped from a cat's nails." They are signed from Maria Grazia Chiuri for Christian Dior Couture, a designer with whom Eyal has had a customary relationship since 2018, when he choreographed the fashion show for the fashion house. "With Maria Grazia there is chemistry, we understand each other on the fly. She, like me, sees clothes as a space for the body to inhabit, to feel good in." Eyal loves working with those who speak the same language. "It also happened with Koreless," the 31-year-old producer who signs the music for Into the Hairy, a mix of electronic and ambient. to confirmation of the from "big family" atmosphere that Sharon knows how to establish, "my 13-year-old son Charlie sings a song from the show, while my 21-year-old daughter Noah did the makeup and hair, creating something special, almost a mutation."