Neta Pulvermacher | Children of the Dream

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The Work  Children of the Dream by Neta Pulvermacher premiered under the title Five Beds/Dream Children in 1993 in New York, performed by her company at Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church. The work received numerous awards and was performed in New York, across the United States, and around the world. Today, the piece is being revived in a studio version as part of the Fridays at Ora performance series, which reimagines dance works created between 1990 and 2015 into intimate and exposed studio performances.

Five Beds / Children of the Dream a 55 minutes work for 6 dancers and five beds. A collaboration between two Israeli artists; choreographer Neta Pulvermacher and composer/Drummer Yuval Gabay. It is based on the choreographer's childhood memories of growing up in the children's houses of Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan. The work brings to light the unique communal living situation of the Israeli kibbutz, which represents a social experiment in collectivism that is now being abandoned.

Pulvermacher's generation is the last to have been brought up in the children's houses, where children of the kibbutz were raised communally. Five Beds/Children of the Dream is set in a room of the children's house containing five gray metal beds. Using cinematic  techniques as its structure, Pulvermacher combines a mosaic of voices, text, music and the physically charged movement of six dancers to take the audience for a ride through the utopian hells and heavens of the choreographer's childhood. 

"I feel and believe that this work, with its theatrical and physical language, is more relevant than ever to our reality in a broken and disintegrating world. Precisely now, within the fractured world that causes us all existential anxiety around the globe and especially here in the country - we are crying out for a vision, for light - and for a new and humane spirit. The messages of the work, and the yearning for a better person and a better world that the work embodies in various ways - are more relevant than ever. This is a monumental work of dance theater that demands from the performers physical dedication and absolute presence. And in addition, the movement and theatrical language of the work is interesting, original, and captivating - and the invitation to return to these materials now is a great privilege and a true pleasure. I am excited to re-work and re-imagine these materials with a new cast for Shishi B'orah at Suzanne Dellal."

Neta Pulvermacher is an acclaimed Israeli/American choreographer, director, dancer, and a Professor of Dance at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (JAMD). She was born and raised in Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan in Northern Israel and studied dance with Ariela Peled in Tel Hai.  She danced in the Rina Schenfeld Dance Theater prior to moving to NYC in 1982 to study dance and music.  She graduated from Juilliard and worked as a dancer for various choreographers in NYC. She spent 31 years living and working in New York before returning to Israel in 2013 to become Dean of Dance at JAMD.   Neta was on the faculties of the University of Florida, Barnard College Princeton University and at the American Dance Festival. She founded The Neta Dance Company in New York with four of her Juilliard classmates, and created over 95 works for her company and for ballet and modern dance companies in the U.S. and Israel. Her company was presented at major NYC venues such as The Joyce Theater, Dance Theater Workshop and the 92nd Street Y and toured extensively nationally and internationally.  Her collaborations include work with musicians John Zorn, Anthony Coleman, the English rock band XTC, Miri Ben Ari and David Broza, as well as choreography for Mira Nair’s film “The Namesake.” Her work has been supported by numerous foundations and fellowships and earned her a White House recognition. Most recently she was awarded the 2024 Arik Einstein prize in Israel for sustained choreographic achievements.  

Credits :
Choreography/Text/Direction: Neta Pulvermacher 
Original Score: Yuval Gabay and Neta Pulvermacher
Rehearsal Director: Yael schnell
Dancers:  Daniel Ben Ami, Gali Davidovich, Lucinda Zastrocky, Elia Magnezi, Maayan Sinai, Noga shary, Ophir Kunesch