This preview has been provided by the American Dance Festival.

We Love Arabs is the comical story of a Jewish choreographer and an Arab dancer who want to create a show that carries a message of coexistence and peace, a successful endeavor that demolishes the wall of prejudice, and an examination of everyday behavior that is executed with humor and subtlety. The presentation of We Love Arabs at The Cary Theater is co-presented by ADF and The Town of Cary. ADF support for these performances provided in part by The Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast Region.

Hillel Kogan has been creating dance works since 1996. For nine years, from 1996 to 2005, Kogan focused on short creations and was commissioned to create works for the National Ballet of Portugal, Muza Dance Company, for the Shades of Dance Festival at the Suzanne Dellal Center, and others. In 2009, he was invited to join the Israeli Choreographers’ Association.

He has participated in the Israeli Ministry of Culture flagship event the Curtain Up Festival multiple times. As part of this platform, Kogan presented Taki Take One (together with Yossi Berg and Inbal Yaacobi, 2006), After the Bolero (2007), Everything (2009) and Obscene Gesture (2011).

Kogan repertoire includes the evening length works The Rite of Spring (2011) and We Love Arabs (2013), which were created as commissions for Tmuna Theater’s Intimadance Festival. We Love Arabs received various prizes and acknowledgement in Israel and abroad. We Love Arabs is performed in three versions: Hebrew, English and French.

He is the recipient of the Israel National Lottery’s 2015 Landau Prize, The Israel Critics’ Circle’s Outstanding Choreographer of 2013, and was named as a Promising Choreographer by European magazine Tanz in 1999 and 2014. For his choreographies, Kogan received the Yair Shapira Prize in 2010 and the Teva Prize in dance in 2009. In 2015, Kogan was appointed as coartistic director of the Curtain Up Festival.

Kogan graduated from Thelma Yelin High School for the Arts’ Theater Department. His dance studies continued at The Bat Dor Dance Studio and the Merce Cunningham Studio in New York City (thanks to a generous grant from the America Israel Cultural Foundation).

He performed as a member of the youth company Bikurei Machol (1990), The Batsheva Ensemble (1995-6), Nomades Dance Company of Switzerland (1996-8) and the Gulbenkian Ballet of Portugal (1999-2005). As part of the Israeli dance scene, Kogan has worked as a dancer, choreographer, collaborator and dramaturge with Renana Raz, Dana Ruttenberg, Yossi Berg and Oded Graf, and others. Kogan has performed as a guest with Batsheva Dance Company.

In 2005, Kogan received an invitation to work as Assistant Choreographer to Ohad Naharin. In this role, Kogan has worked as rehearsal director with the Batsheva Ensemble untill summer 2016, as well as with various foreign troupes. In parallel to this position, Kogan has been an active member of the Israeli and international dance communities as an independent choreographer. In Batsheva Dance Company, Kogan is Director of Educational Programs and Artistic Director of “Batsheva Hosts” performances series.

Kogan teaches Gaga, repertoire (his own and other’s) and contemporary dance. He has taught at companies such as Norway’s Carte Blanche, Gauthier Dance in Germany, IT Danza in Spain, Srtut in Australia, and more. Kogan also teaches dance to undergraduate students of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.

Hillel Kogan writes articles on dance, which have been published in the online magazine Maakaf and in the quarterly magazine Machol Achshav.

PERFORMANCES

The Cary Theater

Tuesday, June 13 at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, June 14 at 7:30 pm

$10 – $28.50

Reynolds Industries Theater

Friday, June 16 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, June 17 at 7:00 pm

$10 – $27