The nation’s leading repertory dance company Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) opens its 59th season with NOA, October 3-5, 2024, at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. Celebrating one of RDT’s most significant artistic collaborations in the past decade, this performance will showcase innovative choreography by internationally acclaimed artist Noa Zuk. Audiences will be immersed in a world of rhythm, movement, and emotional storytelling, featuring three works: By The Snake, Outdoors (from Shutdown), and the Utah premiere of Gringo.

Noa Zuk is a renowned Israeli choreographer, dancer, teacher and certified Gaga instructor. Born in Kibbutz Sh’ar Ha’amakim, she began dancing at the age of four, learning various dance forms and martial arts. Zuk performed worldwide for 12 years with the Batsheva Dance Company under the direction of Ohad Naharin. Since leaving Batsheva over 15 years ago, Zuk has established herself as a choreographer, working for dance companies around the world.

Zuk is a master teacher of Gaga, a movement language developed by Naharin. Gaga offers a physically challenging, multisensory experience that improves flexibility, endurance, agility, coordination, and efficiency while promoting awareness, sensitivity, and generosity. Zuk’s longtime collaborator Ohad Fishof serves as musician and dramaturg for all works presented at NOA. Together they continue to push creative boundaries and have returned to Utah several times for workshops, restaging, and new productions.

Zuk is known for her powerful and unconventional approach to dance. She says, “My process of creating contemporary dance is very physical from start to finish. I approach movement through sensation – I try to awaken physical awareness throughout the entire moving body. I am always looking for dynamic clarity, connecting movement and sound so closely that nothing can come between them.”

RDT’s artistic relationship with Zuk and Fishof began in 2016 when they were commissioned to create By The Snake. The piece deconstructs the traditional roles and routines of couples’ dance and invites audiences to witness a fresh and thought-provoking exploration of social dynamics through choreography. This bold and thoughtful work challenges the notion of relationships in both dance and life.

In 2019, Zuk and Fishof returned to Utah to re-perform Outdoors, originally part of a larger work titled Shutdown. Zuk explains, “We took a rhythmic phrase and started creating movement. It’s like life. From the moment you’re born, the clock is ticking. Life is so busy, but slowly we age and things slow down until everything comes to a standstill.”

This summer, Zuk returned to Utah for Dance West, a collaborative workshop hosted by RDT, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, and the University of Utah School of Dance. While practicing previous work, she directed two sections from a piece originally created in Singapore in 2014, titled “An Old Woman Picks Up a Stone from the Ground and Carries It Home.”

The excerpts RDT will perform, now called Gringo, are full of humor and inventive movement. The work includes a duet and a group section, with Zuk again playing with rhythm, small gestures and the connections between the dancers.

This is the first performance to feature RDT’s new tiered pricing structure, designed to make shows accessible to a wider audience. Tickets range from $15 to $45, allowing audiences to support the company at a level that is optimal for them.

Don’t miss this unforgettable evening of dance! Join us in celebrating Noa Zuk’s artistic vision and her long-standing relationship with RDT, which continues to redefine the world of contemporary dance.

For more information, including ticket details and show times, visit rdtutah.org.

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