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Artistic company inspired by Torah, human experience
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BY: JANET DERY Associate Editor
Inspired by the human condition and the principles found in the Torah, Linda Kahn has created the Tikvah Company of Artists, an ensemble of dancers, actors, musicians and poets.
The company’s first show, “Seven,” will be performed by eight artists at Cleveland Public Theatre April 3-6.
“I’m interested in taking the richness of the Torah, with its principles and truths, and manifesting it through the integration of movement, music and text,” explains Kahn, who holds a master’s in dance from Case Western Reserve University and an interdisciplinary master’s from Kent State University in dance, theater and communication. “My choreography is about what goes on inside people and their relationships with others.”
Kahn credits her parents with teaching her the values of Torah as a child. In her professional life, she incorporates narrative and poetic text, personal stories, and text from the Torah into her choreography.
Two Holocaust survivors are the inspiration for one piece in “Seven,” while the death of Kahn’s mother motivated another. “I’m dancing about real life,” she says.
After hearing Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissman Klein speak, Kahn was moved to buy her book All but My Life. Portions of that text became a part of “Seven.” “She (Weissman Klein) describes the horror of what she went through as a teenager but then talks about her grandchildren and how she’s a link to generations,” Kahn explains. “She talks about it through the lens of time.”
In the show, the actress who portrays Weissman Klein first speaks from the point-of-view of Gerda the teenager; later she is Gerda the grandmother. “The actress is the voice of Gerda, and I’m the body,” explains Kahn.
The title of the work refers to seven words common to the human experience: “appreciate, endure, wait, grieve, trust, listen, journey.” Those words are woven into the backdrop of the show and link each piece together, she says.
Originally from Chicago, Kahn moved to Cleveland eight years ago. She has performed a concert at the JCC’s Halle Theatre called “L’dor V’Dor” (from generation to generation) and was a guest choreographer for Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theater. Most recently, she choreographed part of CWRU’s Centennial Celebration.
“There is such an emotional, spiritual context to my choreography, it needs to surpass technique and be performed in a heartfelt way,” says Kahn. “Tikvah means hope. It’s my intention to enhance hope in people about significant life matters.”
jdery@cjn.org
WHAT: Tikvah Company of Artists performs “Seven”
WHEN: April 3-6
WHERE: Cleveland Public
Theatre’s DanceWorks 08 at the James Levin Theatre
TICKETS: 216-631-2727 or www.cptonline.org
The company’s first show, “Seven,” will be performed by eight artists at Cleveland Public Theatre April 3-6.
“I’m interested in taking the richness of the Torah, with its principles and truths, and manifesting it through the integration of movement, music and text,” explains Kahn, who holds a master’s in dance from Case Western Reserve University and an interdisciplinary master’s from Kent State University in dance, theater and communication. “My choreography is about what goes on inside people and their relationships with others.”
Kahn credits her parents with teaching her the values of Torah as a child. In her professional life, she incorporates narrative and poetic text, personal stories, and text from the Torah into her choreography.
Two Holocaust survivors are the inspiration for one piece in “Seven,” while the death of Kahn’s mother motivated another. “I’m dancing about real life,” she says.
After hearing Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissman Klein speak, Kahn was moved to buy her book All but My Life. Portions of that text became a part of “Seven.” “She (Weissman Klein) describes the horror of what she went through as a teenager but then talks about her grandchildren and how she’s a link to generations,” Kahn explains. “She talks about it through the lens of time.”
In the show, the actress who portrays Weissman Klein first speaks from the point-of-view of Gerda the teenager; later she is Gerda the grandmother. “The actress is the voice of Gerda, and I’m the body,” explains Kahn.
The title of the work refers to seven words common to the human experience: “appreciate, endure, wait, grieve, trust, listen, journey.” Those words are woven into the backdrop of the show and link each piece together, she says.
Originally from Chicago, Kahn moved to Cleveland eight years ago. She has performed a concert at the JCC’s Halle Theatre called “L’dor V’Dor” (from generation to generation) and was a guest choreographer for Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theater. Most recently, she choreographed part of CWRU’s Centennial Celebration.
“There is such an emotional, spiritual context to my choreography, it needs to surpass technique and be performed in a heartfelt way,” says Kahn. “Tikvah means hope. It’s my intention to enhance hope in people about significant life matters.”
jdery@cjn.org
WHAT: Tikvah Company of Artists performs “Seven”
WHEN: April 3-6
WHERE: Cleveland Public
Theatre’s DanceWorks 08 at the James Levin Theatre
TICKETS: 216-631-2727 or www.cptonline.org
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