An image that choreographer Ronen “Roni” Koresh saw daily years ago prompted the creation of a production that is coming to Palos Hills.
Philadelphia-based Koresh Dance Company presents “La Danse” Feb. 5 at Moraine Valley Community College’s Fine & Performing Arts Center’s Dorothy Menker Theater.
“When I was young I had posters of dance in my room. One of the posters I had was Henry Matisse’s painting of ‘La Danse.’ It’s people in a circle in the nude against a green landscape and a blue sky,” said Koresh, artistic director of Koresh Dance Company.
“Back then I liked it because it was beautiful. I didn’t really pay much attention to the details. Then two and a half years ago that painting came up on my Facebook so I was reading about it. I was looking at it really carefully and noticed so many little things I didn’t notice before.
“You see the imagery, you see pain, you see joy and you see so many things in one image.”
Performers Paige Devitt, Micah Geyer, Mikal Gilbert, Michaela Harrington, Callie Hocter, Devon Larcher, Robert Tyler, Melissa Rector, Sarah Shaulis and Kevan Sullivan bring Koresh’s vision of “La Danse” to life.
The production, which premiered in 2019, features original musical composition by John Levis, whom Koresh started working with more than 30 years ago.
“He’s a brilliant musician and composer,” said Koresh about Levis, accompanist coordinator for University of the Arts’ School of Dance in Philadelphia and music director for the School at Jacob’s Pillow’s Contemporary Program in Massachusetts.
“We worked for six months on just the music. I enjoy working with composers because I get exactly what I need. When you work with composers you have that freedom to make it exactly the way you want. The impact is tremendous.”
“La Danse” also features poetry by Karl Mullen of Massachusetts.
“He is an incredible musician as well as a painter and a poet. Karl Mullen’s voice is to die for. He has this Irish-sounding deep voice. With his accent, it’s just gorgeous,” Koresh said.
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“What I do is give him the idea and I let him write something. Through his eye and through his mind he opens up another vein, another pathway for me to think about the work. He turns it more visual through poetry so I always use his voice in my work.
“It helps me, the dancers and the audiences. It creates another element that is quite beautiful to the whole experience you’re watching. He’s just really magnificent and really inspiring.”
Koresh’s dance journey began with his mother introducing him to folk dancing from the Yemenite tradition in Israel, where he was born and raised, and included joining Martha Graham’s Batsheva 2 Dance Company.
He moved to New York in 1983 to study with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and was a University of the Arts faculty member for 30 years starting in 1986.
“While I was faculty at University of the Arts, I was graduating a lot of seniors and the constant question they had was: ‘Where do we go from here?’ Unfortunately, instead of growing, companies were folding. In the early 1990s there was a drought in dance companies,” Koresh said.
“I was creating a lot of ensemble work that was being performed by students in front of a lot of audiences. There was always an amazing response from audiences so I knew I could choreograph and create. The issue was whether I wanted to take responsibility for all these youngsters’ lives.”
Koresh, who founded Koresh Dance Company in 1991 and Koresh School of Dance in 1993, credited the late Jim Woland, who was then with Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, with helping Koresh Dance Company with grants to go on the road circa 1997.
The Palos Hills performance by Koresh Dance Company also includes “Bolero,” an interpretation of Maurice Ravel’s musical composition of the same name.
“There is something for everybody in this show. It is dramatic and it’s got humor, joy and excitement. It’s just such a journey,” said Koresh, whose company has toured around the United States as well as in Guatemala, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and Turkey.
“It’s like a dream. It’s quite beautiful.”
Koresh Dance Company presents ‘La Danse’
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5
Where: Moraine Valley Community College’s Fine & Performing Arts Center’s Dorothy Menker Theater, 9000 W. College Parkway, Building F, Palos Hills
Tickets: $35 general public; $31.50 members; $28 veterans and active military; free students
Information: 708-974-5500; morainevalley.edu/fpac
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.