International Mayumana ensemble’s capital premiere

June 5, 2009 - 12:03 PM by Harry · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Pop Culture, Profiles 

MayumanaWith all the talk in recent years about Israeli popular music exports, it’s easy to forget that there are plenty of Israeli entertainers in other realms who have been enjoying growing successes overseas. The world over, there are plenty of Israeli illusionists, dub bassists, jazz saxophonists, supermodels and even boxers - you name it.

When the percussive Mayumana dance troupe got started 13 years ago, many dismissed it as a local knockoff of international sensation Stomp. Now the ensemble maintains a busy schedule touring worldwide. Today Mayumana employs 100 people globally and has starred in ads for brands like Fiat and Coca Cola. Last week, the ensemble premiered Momentum, its new show, for local audiences of thousands at the Jerusalem Theater, under the framework of the Israel Festival.

Ha’aretz recently interviewed Tel Aviv-born Mayumana co-founder Boaz Berman as well as producer Roy Ofer, who joined the team shortly after its launch.

Ofer believes that the key to Mayumana’s success has been the way that he makes sure to keep things in-house:

“We have our own people who we work with, and we rarely involve people from the outside. On tours abroad, we have our own way of doing things. We don’t just perform and leave. We performed in Madrid for eight months, we were in New York for six months, and so on.”

Berman, meanwhile, remembers the early days fondly:

“Our goal was to put on a show that would be different from anything else out there. We were so fired up that we were sure we’d succeed. The people who worked with us then did it for free, because they all believed in us. We worked all day every day, and when we had enough material we started doing open presentations to friends on Wednesdays, which evolved from week to week.”

But according to Ofer, it’s unfair to call Mayumana a “troupe,” when so much more comes into the performances:

“In a troupe, the members all do one specific thing – dancing or drumming or whatever,” Berman explains fervently. “With us, everyone does everything, even though on the face of it they’re completely disparate – one is a professional dancer, another is the national archery champion, another one’s an actor, this one’s a contortionist. Our job is to unite them. It’s a group of people, not a troupe.”

Hey, man. Whatever terminology you prefer. Just keep doing whatever it is that you want to call what you’re doing, because people seem to like it.

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Israeli Emmys

September 23, 2008 - 5:25 PM by Jessica · 2 Comments
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Pop Culture 

intreatment.jpgNow Israel can boast about a new kind of successful export after “In Treatment,” based on the Israeli series “B’tipul,” took home two Emmy awards on Sunday.

The popular psychodrama series scored Emmys for actress Dianne Wiest, who won the award for best supporting actress in a drama series, and Glynn Turman received the Emmy for guest actor in a drama series.
“B’tipul,” which follows a psychoanalyst through his week, was created by Hagai Levi, who is now one of the executive producers of “In Treatment.”

btipul.jpgThe role of the therapist in “In Treatment” is played by Gabriel Byrne, while Israeli actor Assi Dayan (yes, the son of general and the black eye patch-wearing Moshe Dayan) played the role in the Israeli series. Wiest’s role was played by Israeli grande dame Gila Almagor in “B’tipul.”

The two Emmys are definitely a coup for Israeli television, and, as Israeli producer Zafrir Kohonofsky commented to me recently, perhaps a new version of Zionism, as this kind of exported culture allows Israel to show what life is really like over here.

I’m not sure “In Treatment” can do that, as the American version is an Americanized take on an Israeli concept. But one of Kohonofsky’s shows, “A Touch Away,” also recently purchased for American development by HBO, is a Romeo and Juliet story dealing with the relationships between a Russian immigrant family and an ultra-Orthodox one living in the same apartment building in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak.

Kohonofsky told Ynet “certain changes” in the show’s original format “will naturally be made… but ultimately the American version will be very similar to its original counterpart.”

Those changes will remain to be seen, but I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with Bnei Brak.

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