Text & choreography: Hillel Kogan
Dancers: Mourad Bouayad (French) and Hillel Kogan (Israeli)
Light: Amir Castro
Music: Kazem Alsher, Mozart
Show starts at 8pm
Gates at 7pm for baguette sandwiches and cash bar
Tickets start at $30
Israeli choreographic star Hillel Kogan’s We Love Arabs imagines peace and power struggles between a Jewish choreographer and an Arab dancer, to hilarious effect.
“Hilarious parody of didactic art.”
-The New York Times
"It is, in short, hilarious."
- Time Out Melbourne
"Hillel Kogan is multi-talented. [...] His weapons: humor, precision and subtlety."
- Le Figaro
"Masterpiece. I have never before seen a dance work so full of life, provocative, political and hilarious. [...] It's the most exceptional choreographic adventure that I have seen in years."
- The Jerusalem Post
TRK brings together leading artists from around the world for a range of striking works, not least of which is the LA Premiere of “We Love Arabs” by Israeli choreographic star Hillel Kogan.
“We Love Arabs” brings together dance and theatre to explore coexistence, brotherhood, and peace. Witty and completely politically incorrect, Kogan’s work goes straight to the heart of national and religious identities, clichés and prejudices, and offers us a demonstration, sometimes hilarious, sometimes provocative, of the ever-present power dynamics on stage, in the wings and beyond.
"The relationship between Jews and Arabs in this play is a metaphor, an example of a universal relationship between two ethnicities that exist in all societies. The power relations between ethnic majority and minority”, said Kogan. He added that "The case of Israel is not special and this piece uses the relationship of choreographer and dancer to speak about this power relationship, prejudice, racism and stereotypes."
The story is an accomplished satire, and turns on a choreographer (Hillel Kogan) who acts as the supposedly empathetic choreographer who must create a duet about peace with an Arab dancer (Mourad Bouayad). The choreographer, as the self-aggrandizing creator, talks and talks and talks, spouting clichés and half baked ideas on culture, politics and religion. He is trapped by the very misconceptions he allegedly wants to dispel. The dancer remains silent. Inevitably the tension rises. And then they begin to dance, an unlikely duo, sensual, symbolic and potentially explosive.
On the need for humor in an otherwise serious message of peace, Kogan reveals: "There are many ways to deal with the subject of conflict. Normally this subject is treated in a very emotional, melancholy, violent way. I think with humor you can have a little bit of distance and you can see things that you don't see when you're too melancholy and too angry."
The event is a singular offering with a message of peace for everyone to experience, young and old.