A 5,6,7,8

Tel Aviv is known for its performing arts scene, most famously for Habimah. However the truth is that there is so much more. On October 29th, we traveled to two performing arts institutes that are in Tel Aviv, however not where you would expect. Fresco is a modern dance company started and run by Yoram Karmi.

After a discussion with, in my opinion, the genius that is Yoram Karmi, we had the opportunity to watch the dance company rehearse. Being a dancer myself, this was an amazing experience, especially since I want to be choreographer in the future.

The most interesting thing about Fresco is its location, one of the lowest floors in the Central Bus Station. The Central Bus Station is known for being not the nicest area, and the lower you go into it the more abandoned and spooky it becomes. The piece we saw the dancers rehearse was about an old woman looking back at her time during World War 2. Since Fresco is a modern dance company, they focus a lot on incorporating breath into their movements.

When they were rehearsing, Karmi stopped often to correct them on movements but even more so on their breath. He knows that if he is going to have them all exhale, it must be in unison.

After leaving fresco, we walked to the HaTikvah neighborhood and learned a little bit about the neighborhood from our teacher as well as from the cousin of one of the kids in our class. Then we had time for lunch in the HaTikvah market. After about almost an hour in the market, we met up at one of the theaters that the Yoram Lowenstein Performing Arts Studio performs. There we got a small insight into the studio's background and saw a rehearsal for the musical that they were preparing for, Young Frankenstein. After that, we talked to the actors a little and then walked to the main building of the studio and talked to Yoram Loewenstein himelf.

He shared with us that his goal is to help people with theater. For example, one of the initiatives that the studio has is taking kids who come from a not so nice area and using theater to help them deal with issues and conflicts they may have.

The two places we visited on this day show that no matter where you are, or the people you are with, performing arts unify and strengthen.