I believe that dance is one of the most important languages that was invented and developed by men. It is the most primal and powerful language. Man used to dance to God, to pray for rain, for fertility or in order to win wars. In the 21st century we still have a deep need to dance.
The human body is a wonderful instrument it is rich, tender, intimate and complex. I spend all my life investigating its functions, to improve my knowledge and to deepen my experience.
The different parts of the human body are like a marvelous and beautiful orchestra. you have to learn how to play it. It needs a day-to-day practice.
I use the traditional, classical and modern techniques. I give up what doesn’t interest me. I add what I discover in my personal work.
I improvise a lot; through improvisation I listen to my inner voice. I dance to its sound and rhythms.
I work constantly in order to get a direct contact, relationship and connection between body soul and spirit.
In my work I use objects. The contrast between the still world of an object and the live world of the human body is very inspiring to me. While working with objects I learned about movement. I learned the principle of movement; line, weight, balance, center etc.
Dance for me is an ultimate form of human expression, a means of reaching for both the dancer & spectator, of a totally different level of consciousnesses into the inner depths of ones’ soul. Objects help us reach these depths.
Periods in my work
My work is divided into 4 periods:
1) The geometric period: I worked with cubes, sticks, threads, tins and other geometric forms.
2) The going into nature period: I started to work with objects from nature. Soft materials such as sand, water, silk, trees, shells, peacock feathers, deer horns etc.
3) The light and shadow period: I worked with light and shadow. You cannot touch or hear. You can only see. It is a more spiritual period.
4) The 4th period: mixing periods Video, words, poems, cloths. Work with more realistic objects such as hat, shoes, dresses etc.
I like to work with chance operation allowing things to come to me rather than planning and controlling them.
I believe that my inner life dictated those periods and changes in my work. At the same time I feel very strongly that the use of objects and my dances helped me to go through the different levels of my development as a human being. My aim is to reach through my dance world a more natural and rich life, to understand more, to achieve harmony and to share my experience and work with others.
Rina Schenfeld
