Dancer to talk about challenges,
opportunities given
to him in life
By Sarah Szczepanski
Assistant
Features Editor
He went all the way from a Marxist commune in Israel
to an American school in New York City, and Zvi Gotheiner has been dancing
the entire time.
Gotheiner, owner of the dance company Zvi Gotheiner
and Dancers, says his dancing has given him opportunities he might have
not had in his life so far.
"It stimulated my thinking critical ability
to look at the world," said Gotheiner, who will be discussing how
his Israeli and American experiences have influenced his work tonight
in the Stewart Center.
He says what makes him unique from other performers
is his living as a child in a community where he was only allowed four
hours a day to spend with his parents. He spent the rest of the time
with his peers while a supervisor watched over them.
"They created a small commune that was supposed
to create equality for all members," Gotheiner said. "They
break the family structure so they educated students away from parents."
Although some children had traumatic experiences
growing up in the commune without the protection from older people,
Gotheiner said it was the commune that fostered his musical ambition.
"They tried to create equality, hierarchy
and school success. When I showed talent for music, they provided me
with the best teachers in Israel."
The instruction from the Israeli dance instructors
paid off, and after serving his required amount of time in the Israeli
army, the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation offered him a dance scholarship
in New York City in 1978.
Because he had not had any other experience, and
the commune did not have television, Gotheiner did not realize how unique
his childhood was until he arrived in America.
"Sometimes I think about the way I went from
Marxist commune to a center of commercial society like New York,"
he said.
Fortunately for Gotheiner, who hardly spoke the
first six months he was in New York, the dancing was still the same.
"I was determined, nothing would stop me,"
he said. "I fell into places, I got jobs right away."
In 1989, Gotheiner founded his own group, and along
with performing everywhere from Brazil to Austria, he started teaching
in his own unique way.
"He’s a funny guy, his wardrobe probably
consists of four pairs of back pants and eight black T-shirts,"
said Jonathan Riseling, a member of Gotheiner's company, who is also
at Purdue this week. "He will work you to the bone, but he will
also be careful with you."
Riseling said when Gotheiner choreographs routines
he always finds a way to make sure every member of the company has at
least one piece to shine in.
He cares about his dancers. That’s the kind
of person he is, Riseling said.
· Gotheiner will speak at 7 tonight in Room
206 in the Stewart Center.
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