Biography

Born in Israel, Meytal Blanaru is a Brussels based dancer, choreographer and teacher. Since moving to Europe in 2009, she has worked with Lisi Estaras in Les ballets C de la B, Damien Jalet in  Eastman Dance Company, Samuel Lefeuvre, Roberto Olivan, Martin Kilvady and Clara Furey.Since 2008, Meytal has been developing a personal, ongoing movement research that deeply altered the way she moved and perceived the body. She uses the Feldenkrais method as a base for her work, inspiration, and her approach to the action of learning. This research is the foundation of her solo and collaborative choreographic work.

Meytal received scholarships from the America – Israeli cultural fund (2001 – 2005), and in 2005 won the Israeli Cultural Department’s prize for selected performing dancers with Vertigo dance company. Her artistic work has been supported by Associazione mosaicodanza (Italy – Inside/off program), The Suzanne Dellal Center (Israel – ‘Shades of dance’ program) and Danscentrumjette (Belgium – Summer residencies).

Meytal’s work is represented by the agency SEVENTYSEVEN, together with a selected group of choreographers, including Les Slovaks and Anton Lachky. Recently Meytal has assisted Damien Jalet in his new creation for the Scottish Dance Theatre – Yama. In spring 2015, Meytal will choreograph her first group piece, commissioned by SEAD – Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance.

(from Meytal)

Aurora grew out of a question that kept coming back to me: How much of who I am really comes from within myself, and how much has been carved and shaped by society’s norms? I guess I was asking (and still do) who I am.

The more that I dived into this question, the answer seemed to be pushed further away beyond my reach. I didn’t know how to connect to such a place. I doubted everything. Then I approached the topic of wild children (feral children) – children that spent the first few years of their lives with no human contact; either raised by animals or secluded by abusive parents. I thought that those children must have developed themselves FROM themselves. I  wondered how they would move, how would they behave. Through this ‘filter’ I was able to connect to a place inside of me that felt untouched.

This piece is dedicated to Genie – a child who had spent the first 13 years of her life strapped to a potty chair, locked isolated in a room by abusive parents. After her discovery in 1970 she continued to be passed on between different authorities, scientists and social workers. While Genie’s story is a heartbreaking tale of abuse, I was deeply inspired by her development of an alternate human physicality. People seemed to be drawn to her. I was too.

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