WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW: ART AND CULTURE EVENTS  

Romashka

YACHAD- TOGETHER

Connect Productions  announced the creation of a show tailor made for English speaking audiences of all ages. A performing troupe of 4 young talented singers bring to the stage the energy and hope of contemporary Israel facing the tensions and anxieties of an uncertain future.

The Performers

Photos from L to R: #1. Dikla Shachar. #2. Yossi Azulay. # 3. Zohar Atar. #4. Yaron Menashe. #5.

Dikla Shachar, 27. Dikla became a recording artist after finishing her army service as a performer in the army troupe of the Southern Command. She has made the Israeli hit parade five different times, the last being a song called "Bli Milchamot Olam" (Without World Wars). Dikla has also appeared on stage in children's theater and studied with the Nissan Nativ School of acting. She is currently studying Visual Communication at the Academic College of Holon.  Yossi Azulay, 25. Yossi did his military service in an IDF performing troupe. Since completing his service he has pursued a career in music. Besides multiple appearances on television as a soloist he has recorded with Shlomi Shabbat. Their duet of the song "Ima" reached the top of the popularity charts. Yossi is now working on his own recording which he expects to release in June. Zohar Atar, 25. Zohar is becoming a well-known performer in Israel from her more than 30 appearances on different entertainment television shows. After completing her military service in an IDF performing troupe, she became the soloist for GAYA a popular ethnic rock band. She is currently appearing in a revival of "Ish Hassid Haya" of the Hebrew Theater Production Company while studying percussion instruments and working on her first record. Yaron Menashe, 28. Yaron is best known for his regular late night radio music show on Israel's most popular FM music station, 88 in Tel Aviv. His long list of theater credits include many children theater productions as well as a Yoram Globus production called "Stars and Dreams" that featured music of the 60's. He had a leading role in the Naomi Polani revival of the "Tarnigolim" which has become a benchmark of Israeli entertainment. He also is a graduate of Beit Tzvi, Israel's foremost school of the performing

The Performance: The performance is designed to create an interactive experience with the audience. There are surprises and the audience will be involved in the stage performance from the moment the music begins. The repertoire includes songs from the current Israeli hit parade as well as traditional well-known Israeli/Jewish tunes and all are delivered in both English and Hebrew. The show communicates the situation in Israel with humor and song mixed with the poignancy of the next news broadcast. This is a show to make audiences want to be stand up and be counted among Israel's supporters

HOWL! Festival 2005 Pre-Festival Press Conference

Tuesday, August 2, 2005, 5pm. Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction, 34 Avenue A between 2nd & 3rd Streets, NYC. The Federation of East Village Artists   (FEVA) announces a pre-festival press conference on Tuesday, August  2, 2005 at Mo Pitkin’s restaurant. Billed as a countercultural county fair, the HOWL! Festival burst   onto the scene in August 2003 and has become a highly anticipated   staple of downtown, drawing crowds of over 150,000 to the week-long   series of over 200 events. The Tuesday, August 2nd press conference will highlight the extensive   program of the 3rd Annual HOWL! Festival - taking place this year   from the 21st–28th of August in the East Village and the Lower East  Side. During the press conference, the Executive Director of FEVA, Phil  Hartman, and downtown performance art icons Penny Arcade and Murray  Hill will offer a preview of the 200+ events taking place during this  year’s festival.  The press conference will also offer detailed  information to journalists regarding: A-The history of the HOWL! Festival and its effort to preserve  the artistic and cultural traditions of the East Village / Lower East  Side. B-The Free Events taking place in Tompkins Square Park from the  26-28th of August. C-Information on participating venues and organizations  involved in this year’s festival and the events they are hosting  throughout the entire festival.  (On hand at the conference will be  dozens of event coordinators, from venues and partnering  organizations, available for your questions regarding the specific  events they are producing for this year’s fest.) For more information please see: www.howlfestival.com - The full   schedule for the festival will be available on the website August 1,  2005.  Also, see attached for the festival's press release, a listing   of events to take place in Tompkins Square Park and a listing of  venues involved with this year's festival. RSVP To:  Matt Pascarella  matt@howlfestival.com
 

JEWISH/ISRAELI EVENTS                                                                                                                    Provided by Israel General Consulate in New York

CONCERTS

MUSIC
Itamar Golan - Mozart, Bartók, and Schumann with violinist Ilya Gringolts
July 13, 5:45 pm
Pianist Itamar Golan emigrated to Israel from Lithuania at the age of one. He studied there and in Boston and was a frequent recipient of the American-Israel Foundation Honor Scholarship. A soloist with international orchestras and a recording artist, he specializes in chamber music. He has appeared with Barbara Hendricks, Maxim Vengerov, Shlomo Mintz, Mischa Maisky, and Matt Haimovitz. On July 13, he performs Mozart, Bartók, and Schumann with Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts.
The Frick Collection, 1 East 70 St. For more information please call: 212.547.0709 or visit: www.frick.org

MUSIC
Levante - Tami Machnai's CD release Concert
July 15, 8 pm
Award winning Singer and composer Tami Machnai is recognized across for her remarkable blending of Western and Middle Eastern music, and with the release of her debut album, 'Levante', her already solid reputation should grow even stronger. Tami specializes in contemporary interpretations and traditional performances of Middle Eastern Israeli and Jewish folk music. She writes and composes many of her songs and sings in Hebrew, Ladino and English. Her regular ensemble of seven musicians includes Octavio Brunetti (accordion and piano), Roi Raz (classical guitar), Javier Caballero (cello), Taki Masuko (percussion), Kelly Roberge (clarinet/sax/flute), Karl Doty (acoustic bass), and Marissa Licata (violin). In celebration of 'Levante', Tami and her aforementioned accompanying musicians will be hosting a special release concert
Satalla ,37 West 26th Street. For more information please call: 212.576.1155, or visit: www.Satalla.com, www.tamimachnai.com

MUSIC
Jaroslav Jakubovic
July 23, 7:30 pm
Jaroslav is a Saxophonist/Composer/Arranger born in Czechoslovakia. In Israel, Jaroslav is a well known musician, having worked with Shalom Chanoch, Chava Alberstein, Margalit Zanani, and more. A former Columbia Records recording artist, Jaroslav has worked with Bette Midler, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, and other US musicians.
Band members: Jaroslav Jakubovic (Saxophone); Kenny Bichel (Keyboards); Emmanuel Mann (Bass); Benny Kay (Drums); Zahava (Vocals); Dorit Zadok (Vocals)
Satalla - 37 W 26th Street, www.satalla.com 212.576.1155

MUSIC
Moran Katz, Clarinet
July 31, 8 pm
Israeli Clarinetist Moran Katz will join current members and alumni of the New Julliard Ensemble for an outdoors concert at the new MOMA, as part of the series "Summergarden 2005: New MoMA, New Music". Free admission.
The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, Museum of Modern Art. For more information please visit: www.moma.org/events/summergarden

 

_____________________ << DANCE >> _____________________
 

DANCE
The Birth of the Phoenix - Vertigo Dance Company (Jerusalem)
July 26, 8:30 pm; July 27, 8:30 pm; July 28, 8:30 pm
The JCC continues to bring you some of the most interesting artistic work from Israel. Don't miss this eco-dance performance about the dialogue between humans and the environment from one of Israel's leading modern dance companies. Experience a performance outside the confines of the theater within a bamboo geodesic dome. Combining physicality and spirituality, The Birth of the Phoenix will bring you back to the experience of ancient theater where audience and performers were exposed to a visual, auditory and sensory natural world. "Dancing on the bare earth, Birth of the Phoenix is unique, rich and evolving... an extraordinary experience." - The Jerusalem Post; "High voltage dancing" -The New York Times.
Co-sponsored by the Riverside Park Fund and the New York City Parks Department. The Birth of the Phoenix is made possible, in part, by a grant from Partnership 2000 Jerusalem-New York, a collaboration between UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Municipality of Jerusalem.
Riverside Park at the 73rd Street track, adjacent to the Hudson River. Enter the park at 72nd Street and go down to the river. $10 suggested donation. To register please call: 646.505.5708 or visit: jccmanhattan.org


DANCE
Israeli Folk Dance
Wednesdays, 7-8 pm (instructional session) | 8:15 pm-12:15 am (open session)
Join us every Wednesday evening for folk dancing and fun with Ruth Goodman and Danny Uziel. No advance registration is necessary. Join us for an instructional session to learn and review today’s folk dance repertoire. This session is geared to those with some knowledge of Israeli folk dance.
92nd Street Y, 92nd Street & Lexington Avenue. For information: 212.415.5737 | www.92y.org

DANCE
Israeli Folk Dancing with Tamar and Shmulik
Thursdays at 7 pm
Join us Thursday nights for Israeli folk dancing in the North Gym, led by the well-known and loved Israeli dance teachers Tamar and Shmulik. Beginners can get started with an introductory hour-long session from 7-8pm. Dancers of all levels are invited to join in for the rest of this fun-filled dance extravaganza!
This Fall, every Thursday night beginning October 21st until December 30! No registration required. Pay at the front desk in the lobby.
$10 members/$12 nonmembers | Beginners from 7-8 pm, All Levels from 8-Midnight
The JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St. Call 646.505.5708 for information

_____________________ << EXHIBITS >> _____________________

EXHIBIT
Infected Landscape - Photographs by Shai Kremer
July 15–30
Opening reception: July 19, 6 pm
Infected landscape - Israel is a seven years photographic project examining the Israeli landscape, focused on the relationship between man and his environment within the complexities of the ever-changing Israeli situation. The distance Israeli artist Shai Kremer kept while capturing these images in aesthetic, orderly, beautiful compositions parallels the defense mechanism that Israelis developed in order to protect themselves from the intolerable reality of the current situation. Instead of dealing directly with horrific situations, he chose to reflect on that same reality in a more subtle way: to show how even the seemingly quietest piece of landscape became infected with loaded sediments of the ongoing conflict. Shai Kremer studied photography in Israel and at the School of Visual Arts, where he recently graduated the Master in Fine Arts – Photography program. His work has been exhibited in Israel at the Ramat Gan Museum of Modern Art, the Jerusalem Cinematheque, the Tel Aviv Camera Obscura Gallery, the Tel Aviv University Gallery, the Givat Haviva Art Center, and the Tel Aviv Israeli Architects Association Exhibition Center. His upcoming shows in the states include the Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle (WA) and Art & Commerce, New York (NY).
Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, Suite 1502. For more information please call: 212.592.2145

EXHIBIT
Dafna Kaffeman at Glass Weekend
July 16-17
Glass Weekend is a symposium and exhibition of Contemporary Glass works by artists from all over the world. Among these artists is Israeli Dafna Kaffeman, represented by NY Heller Gallery, who will exhibit a series titled Tactual Stimulation. Since 1985, this biennial has brought together the world’s leading glass artists, collectors, galleries, and museum curators for a three-day weekend of exhibitions, lectures, hands-on glassmaking, artists, demonstrations and social events. Past guest artists include: Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, Bertil Vallien, Stephen Powell, Richard Marquis, Martin Blank, Einar and Jamex de la Torre. Kaffeman studied ceramic and glass at the Bezalel academy in Jerusalem and since her graduation has exhibited in several galleries and museums in the USA, Europe and Israel.
Wheaton Village 1501 Glasstown Road Millville, NJ. For more information please visit: www.glassweekend.com or: www.dafnakaffeman.com

EXHIBIT
Dina Recanati - Recent Works
Jul. 14 - Aug. 27
Opening reception: Jul. 14, 5 pm
Dina Recanati’s images emerge from experience and memory, both personal and collective, as an homage to ancient cultures, to earth and time. While her art is often a combination of painting and the sculptural, the three-dimensional is conditioned by prevailing esthetics. Her recent works are made of recycled material mostly drawn from her last show Passage, which included “Bundles and Tents”. The works are reconstructed and given new meaning and new appearance. Recanati was born in Cairo, studied art and history in England, and then joined the Art Students League in New York. Presently she lives in New York and Israel. Her work can be seen at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv Museum, Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv University, The Jewish Museum, New York, the Herziliya Museum, Weisman Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel and in many other public places and private collections.
Flomenhaft Gallery. 547 W 27th Street. For more information please call: 212.268.4952 or visit: www.flomenhaftgallery.com

EXHIBIT
Nirit Levav and other artists - The New Century Artists Gallery's summer show
Jun. 28 - Aug. 13
Meet the artist reception (together with a benefit for the actor's fund): Jun. 29th, 6 PM
Nirit Levav, an emerging artist from Israel, displays some of her large wall pieces and patterned paintings, along with a few ceramic sculptures. She is using variety of of non-conventional materials, demonstrating the coexistence of different materials and new combinations of hardness and softness, aggression and gentleness, drawing a movement to the new and significant that represent the human feelings. Born in 1963 and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, Levav studied fashion design at Parson school of design in New York and expended her knowledge and skills by attending jewelry studies, working with potter's wheel, studding iron and ceramic sculpting in the Tel Aviv museum and attending a blacksmith's workshop. Her debut exhibit in the States was a solo show of her sculptures last March at The New Century Artists Gallery. Since then Levav presented some of her paintings at a gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona.
New Century Artists Gallery. 530 West 25th Street, Suite 406. For more information please call: 212-367-7072 or visit: www.newcenturyartists.org

EXHIBIT
In The Ring - Shay Kun and international artists
Through July 29
Opening Reception: June 16, 6-8 pm
In The Ring is a dynamic preview of the upcoming season at Buia Gallery. Highlighting innovative new work, In the Ring reveals a range of artists, among them Israeli artist Shey Kun, addressing diverse social and political issues while retaining a timely energy and sense of humor.
BUIA Gallery, 541 W. 23rd St. For more information please call: 212.366.9915 or visit: www.buiagallery.com

EXHIBIT
Brilliant Harmonies - Tamar Hirschl and Judith Peck
Thorugh Sept. 5
Tycoon Art Gallery will present "Brilliant Harmonies," an exhibition of paintings by international artist Tamar Hirschl and sculptures in bronze by Judith Peck. The show, which opens June 8, is the Gallery's first summer exhibition at 75 Main Street at the South Street Plaza, Manasquan. The exhibition will feature paintings from Tamar Hirschl's new series "Transitions," which capture the changing seasons, their brilliant colors and harmonies of nature. She will also be exhibiting several other paintings, drawings and mixed media works. Judith Peck's sculptures feature women: elegantly seated, voluptuously reclining, balancing babies, and include girls and sisters and a teen emerging from a cook pot.
Tycoon Gallery, 75 Main St. at South St. Plaza, Manasquan, NJ 08736. For further information please call 732.223.1885 or visit www.tycoongalleries.com. Tamar Hirschl's work may be viewed at www.tamarhirschl.com
 

EXHIBIT
Printing the Talmud: From Bomberg to Schottenstein at the Yeshiva University Museum
Through August 28
This exhibit features a sixth century mosaic floor, originally from the Rehov synagogue in the Beth Shean valley in Israel. Weighing 3 tons, this mosaic has never before been seen outside of Israel . FREE ADMISSION. A fascinating exploration into the world of Talmud study, illustrating how technological advances -- the invention of the printing press over 500 years ago and the impact of the computer in recent decades -- have transformed the ancient discipline of Talmud study into an accessible pursuit available to all.
Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History,15 West 16th Street (between 5 & 6 Ave) 212.294.8330
www.yumuseum.org New Museum hours: Sun, Tue.-Thur . 11:00-5:00 ,Mon. 11:00-7:00 Friday 11:00-3:00

EXHIBIT
May Peace Prevail in the Land of Milk and Honey - Tamar Hirschl and Elena Keller
Through July 15
New York-based Israeli artist Tamar Hirschl combines personal memories of conflict and strife with more recent global confrontations. The formal result is a subtle balance between explosive strokes and an acute attention to iconographic detail. She juxtaposes objects, some rendered freely and others decisively, to develop a body of work that reads as a monumental epic. Elena Keller's series on Israel visualizes the currents of the most diverse energies that comprise the Holy Land -- energies of geological formation, religious passion, historical drama, myth-making and the quests for individual harmony. The canvasses are very specific, not in terms of "recognizability" to the viewer's impulses, but namely on the level of capturing these energies.
Krasdale Gallery. 65 West Red Oak Lane, White Plains NY 10604. For further information please call Sigmund Balka: 914.694.6400 ext. 2125 or visit: www.krasdalegalleries.com. Tamar Hirschl's work may be viewed at www.tamarhirschl.com

EXHIBIT
Forevermore: The Hansen Project - Yuval Yairi
Through July 31
Jerusalem based artist Yuval Yairi's, first solo exhibition in North America includes 20 mosaic-like color photographs of The Hospital for Hansen Disease in Jerusalem, an almost vacant leprosy hospital and the remnants of the lives that once inhabited it. The Israeli novelist and Nobel laureate S.Y. Agnon used this leprosy hospital as the backdrop for his novel “Shira” and in his short story “Forevermore” - hence the title of this exhibition. Working on a tripod with a digital video camera in still mode, from a single viewpoint, Yairi approximates the movement of the viewer's gaze as he slowly observes the details before him.
Andrea Meislin Gallery. 526 W 26th Street, Suite 214. For further information please call: 212.627.2552 or visit: www.andreameislin.com

EXHIBIT
Itzik Benshalom: Sculpture
May 14 - Sep. 25
The sculptures in this solo exhibition, by Israeli artist Itzik Benshalom, range from large to small scale and are primarily cast in bronze with a few fiberglass works. Through his works Benshalom seeks to define human interaction - focusing on basic human emotions such as love, anger, and understanding. Benshalom was born in Hadera, Israel where he still works and resides. His work is internationally recognized and can be viewed in museums and galleries, as well as corporate and private collections. Grounds For Sculpture, 18 Fairgrounds Rd, Hamilton, NJ.
For more info please call: 609.586.0616 or visit: www.groundsforsculpture.org