Minus 7 by Universal Ballet

Minus 7, choreography by Ohad Naharin. This is Modern by Universal Ballet, Korea. Shot on 26.6.2017 in Astana Opera house in frames of Eurasian Dance Festival 2017.

Ohad Naharin (born 1952) (Hebrew: אוהד נהרין) is an Israeli contemporary dancer, choreographer and dance company artistic director. Ohad Naharin was born in 1952 in Kibbutz Mizra. Raised in an artistic home, he wrote stories, composed music, and painted as a child. His father was a psychologist specializing in psychodrama and an actor who performed with Habima and the Haifa Theater. His mother was a Feldenkreis instructor, choreographer and dancer.  Nevertheless, Naharin did not start dancing until age 22. During his first year with the Batsheva Dance Company, Martha Graham visited Israel and invited Naharin to join her dance company in New York. He attended Juilliard and the School of American Ballet. In 1978, he married Mari Kajiwara, a native New Yorker and an Alvin Ailey dancer. In 2001, she died of cancer at age 50. He is now married to Eri Nakamura, a Batsheva dancer with whom he has a daughter.

The Universal Ballet was founded in Seoul, South Korea in 1984. One of only four professional ballet companies in South Korea, the company performs a repertory that includes many full length classical story ballets, together with shorter contemporary works and original full-length Korean ballets created especially for the company. The company is supported by followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, with Moon’s daughter-in-law Julia H. Moon, who was the company’s prima ballerina until 2001, now serving as General Director. According to the New York Times the Universal Ballet is considered to be one of Asia’s leading ballet companies.

Photos by Jack Devant Ballet Photography with kind permission of the Eurasian Dance Festival and Astana Opera, special thanks to Vasily Medvedev, Stanislav Feco and Janibek Kaiyr.