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La MaMa and The Jewish Museum to Welcome Noa Eshkol Chamber Dance Group, 3/7 & 10

Since the 1990s, artist Sharon Lockhart has used film and photography to engage the everyday life of a wide range of communities. It was during a research trip to Israel in 2008 that Lockhart first encountered the work of dance composer Noa Eshkol (1924-2007). In the 1950s, together with architect Avraham Wachman, Eshkol developed a wholly original movement notation system known as the Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation (EWMN) which describes virtually every perceptible movement of the body. The notation system uses symbols and numbers to express the spatial relationships between parts of the body and to define the motion of any limb around its joint. This is also the basis for Eshkol's dance practice. Eshkol devoted her life to perfecting the system, which has been applied across a broad range of research fields. Because she preferred to work in relative isolation and without concern for public acclaim, Eshkol's work in modern dance is little known outside of Israel. Drawn to the parallels between Eshkol's theories and her own lines of interest - including stasis and motion in still and moving images, postmodern dance and Minimalism - Lockhart began working with the dancers who are active members of the Noa Eshkol Foundation for Movement Notation in Holon, Israel, an organization dedicated to preserving Eshkol's legacy. Lockhart filmed Eshkol's longtime students and a newer generation of dancers performing her dance compositions in an effort to bring to light her visionary work.

La MaMa is a remarkable arts institution with a worldwide reputation for producing cutting-edge work in theater, dance, performance art, and music. Founded in 1961 by theater pioneer and legend, Ellen Stewart, La MaMa has produced and presented more than 3,000 theatrical productions to date and is a vital part of the fabric of cultural life in New York City and around the world.

Widely admired for its exhibitions and collections that inspire people of all backgrounds, The Jewish Museum is one of the world's preeminent institutions devoted to exploring art and Jewish culture from ancient to contemporary. Located at Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, The Jewish Museum organizes a diverse schedule of internationally acclaimed and award-winning temporary exhibitions as well as dynamic and engaging programs for families, adults, and school groups.

Detail: Installation view of Sharon Lockhart | Noa Eshkol exhibition at The Jewish Museum, NYC, showing Racheli Nul-Kahana and Ruti Sela performing Noa Eshkol's Fugue. Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles; and neugerriemschneider, Berlin. Photo by Alex Slade.

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