":The mission of Gallim Dance, to play inside the imagination, to find juxtapositions of the mind and body that resonate in the soul, to investigate our limitations and pleasures, and to realize the endless human capacity for inspiration." - Gallim Dance

Recombination

The Creator

Andrea Miller is both the artistic director and choreographer of the quickly rising company, Gallim Dance, based out of New York City.  Miller was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and began her dance training there.  She later moved to Connecticut and furthered her training in Humphrey-Weidman technique, instructed by an original Humphrey-Weidman dancer, Ernestine Stodelle.  Miller attended Julliard for college and received a BFA in dance.  While studying at Julliard, she was able to work in close contact with Israel based choreographer, Ohad Naharin (Batsheva Ensemble) on several occasions.  After earning her degree, Miller auditioned for the Batsheva Ensemble and moved to Israel. When asked what led her to the Batsheva Ensemble, Miller responded "Ohad came to set a piece at Juilliard—I didn’t know who he was—and I really responded to the work. I felt like it related to everything I wanted out of dance intellectually and physically."  Miller returned to New York with the desire to choreograph and ended up beginning Gallim Dance in 2006.  Since the development of her company, she has created several full length works including "Snow," "I Can See Myself in Your Pupil," "Blush" and her newest work that premiered in 2010, "Wonderland." 

Nicely Put...

"Actively learning to dance is to become more you, more human, more related to your animal, to dig into your weaknesses and find your voice, your individuality, identity, sensuality." -Andrea Miller 8/20/10

A Peak at Gaga Technique In Class

Ohad Naharin's Gaga Technique

When beginning to research Andrea Miller's background and training, I kept stumbling upon the use of the term "Gaga," in relation to training, choreography and influence.  Because I rightfully assumed that this Julliard dancer's training did not include the Gaga that we are most familiar with, I decided to explore the term.  I found that Gaga is a meaningless word that Ohad Naharin used to label the form of movement training he developed after a back injury over 20 years ago.  While developing a method of  rehabilitation for his back, Naharin explored different places in his body that he could utilize in movement in order to deal with the pain.   The technique focuses a lot on self exploration, finding styles of movement that are unique to your body.  Emphasis is also placed on making movement feel pleasurable in your body and sending thoughts and energy to places in your body that are feeling weak.  The technique is taught much like Bill Evans teaches his classes.  Focus is turned internally with use of creative and detailed imagery.  The classes are taught in a way that warm up each part of the body, attention is not only sent to the core and major muscles, but just as equally to the fingers, toes and head.  Because dancers are taught to focus on every part of their body and how it functions, they are able to understand their movement more thoroughly and coordinate their movements to flow coherently. 
I have been mentally exploring these concepts already, due to the technique classes here at Brockport, and it was really interesting to see them also incorporated in the training and work done by Ohad Naharin.  I am very happy that the idea of internal focus seems to be becoming more prominent in the dance world because I feel that it is vital to the longevity of a dancer's career.  It is also exciting and interesting to me that Andrea Miller has had so much exposure to this style of movement because I admire her work.  It is exciting to me that I am being exposed to the same type of movement that has influenced her so strongly.

What On Earth Was That Last Video?

This is a piece created in 2005 by Ohad Naharin, head of the Batsheva Dance Company.  "Three" is a full length work that is a combination of three shorter pieces, "Bellus"(beauty,)"Humus"(Earth,) and "Seccus"(both this and not this.)  I wish that I had been able to find a full-length version of this work.  After reading more specifically about the background and ideas for the piece I became very curious as to how each piece would have flown together. The most important observation, when relating this video to Andrea Miller and her influences, is the obvious presence of the Gaga technique throughout the length of the work.   In the dynamic changes from small movements and stillness to quick, explosive movements that highlight mobility in each part of the body, we can see the technique style developed by Ohad Naharin.