Last Work 
Ohad Naharin 
Hessisches Staatsballett

An aura of the ephemeral shimmers through the energetic, dense dance piece ‘Last Work’ by legendary choreographer Ohad Naharin. A sense of clarity and reflection, as if in the centre of a hurricane. Unperturbed, a person runs across the background of the stage for the full 70 minutes duration of the piece. Apparently fleeing or dreamily light-footed, this body does not move from the spot. A symbol for the will to move forward? 18 other dancers fill the space with the movement language so characteristic of the Tel Aviv-based Batsheva Dance Company: expansive bodies, deep lunges and quotations from traditional Israeli dance forms such as the hora. For all its dynamism, ‘Last Work’ is characterised by a subdued calm and meditative underlying tension. This atmosphere is sustained by the electronic sounds of German DJ Grischa Lichtenberger. Constantly repeating sound patterns give the dance a space to unfold in the moment. Contacts arise easily, being initiated more casually than consciously. With Last Work, the Israeli choreographer presents a rather quiet, thought-provoking world full of strong, physical presence. The moment holds eternity firmly in its grip. An intensity that inspires. After the success of the highly acclaimed re-staging of ‘Sadeh21’ in the 2018/19 season, Naharin now returns to Wiesbaden with another task for the dancers of the Hessisches Staatsballett.

Photo: CTK Photo/Roman Vondrous