The premiere of new works by choreographers Bosmat Nossan and Roni Chadash for the Batsheva Ensemble has been abruptly suspended by the current war, dissolving a date fixed more than a year in advance into the unknown. This disruption signals a profound unraveling of Israel's cultural home, as reported by The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.
The project represented a milestone moment in the careers of both Nossan and Chadash, whose joint evening was in its final stretch before the unforeseen suspension.
Choreographer Nossan articulated the immediate impact of this national instability, stating, “I was very stressed by the deadline, the date for the show that was set far in advance. All of a sudden, there is no date. ‘The performance will happen [when the war ends],’ is all we know.”
Nossan’s piece, Dome, directly explores the physical implications of living under constant threat, a reality now intensified for the native population.
She described the genesis of her work, saying, “The work began from a feeling, an everyday sensation of vulnerability, of knowing that everything can end at any second. I experience it as something physical. There is fear, violence, and fragility, but also a strong desire to live now. When the future is unclear, the present becomes more intense. The piece is about this place and how it lives in the body.”
Beyond the professional sphere, Nossan’s personal life has also undergone significant upheaval, mirroring the national crisis.
She observed the pervasive nature of the conflict, stating, “I think everyone is experiencing this overlap between the public and the private. There is instability in every sphere. I am witnessing the unraveling of the home that is Israel, and in parallel, the unraveling of my own home.”
For over a week, all future plans for the ensemble appeared to have vanished, though the dance company eventually returned to the studio as restrictions shifted, with performances remaining indefinitely postponed.
Nossan and Chadash now continue their creative work in an interim space, able to develop their pieces but without the certainty of a set deadline.
Cultural Dispossession Amidst Conflict
Choreographer Chadash detailed her initial struggle to resume work amidst the national turmoil, explaining, “At the beginning, I didn’t know how to return to the work. But the moment we did, something clicked. Being back in the studio brings me back to the body. It reminds me who I am, my identity, and of a kind of beauty, not external but internal. It connects.”
The profound impact of the conflict on daily life was underscored when Chadash received news of shrapnel damage to her car during the conversation, a development she deferred, stating, “I’ll deal with that later,” to return to her artistic focus.
Chadash’s new work, Separations, engages all 19 dancers of the ensemble, marking the largest group she has directed to date.
She outlined the thematic core of her piece, saying, “I wanted to engage with the physical language I work with, dismantling the body into parts. From there, the theme of separation emerged: separations within the body and within society.”
Chadash further articulated her interest in the fundamental tensions within human existence, stating, “I am interested in the tension between the animal body, the organs, the raw physicality, and the socialized, contained human body.”
This artistic inquiry has taken on a new dimension since October 7, reflecting the intensified societal divisions and external pressures.
The Cost to National Identity
Chadash explicitly connected her work to the collective identity of her people, asserting, “I understood that I am perceived in a certain way. Even if I didn’t define myself as Israeli or Jewish, that is how I am seen from the outside. I realized that I can’t separate Israeliness from my body or from my work.”
Despite the ongoing uncertainty imposed by the conflict, Nossan and Chadash persist in their studio work.
Chadash emphasized the importance of this continuity, stating, “It’s important to keep going. The studio balances the noise outside. It allows me to find simplicity, to feel grounded. When I’m dancing, I am temporarily cut off from everything else.”
Nossan reflected on the role of dance as a fundamental aspect of her existence and a form of cultural resistance, saying, “dance has always been the filter through which I experience life. I don’t know that it’s important, in principle, to keep dancing. But the body continues. There is always movement. And within that movement, I feel there is potential for something to shift. Not necessarily hope, just something that exists within survival, and sometimes within resistance. Without it, I feel I have no meaning. Right now, everything is focused on the present moment. There is no future; we are working for the moment itself.”
The article concluded that this ongoing practice of movement serves not as an act of celebration or a response to certainty, but as a fundamental act of survival and a means to continue in the absence of a clear future, a testament to the resilience of a people facing profound challenges to their national existence.