Israeli Doc Film on Dancer/Choreographer Ohad Naharin-You Don't Have to Like Dance to Love This

If you're a dance officiando you will love this beautiful, thoughtful & remarkable doc film on Ohad Naharin (b Israel 1952); his life, his work and the power of dance.  If you've never been to a dance performance, you cannot help but be moved by this stirring & remarkable combination of the art form of dance & choreography that is made with incredible sensitivity and thoughtfulness.  I am gaga over this documentary which provides glimpses of the ingenious works by Naharin, the combined energy of choreographer & dancer and an insight into a fascinating man with amazing talent & charisma.  "Gaga" is not a Hebrew word.  It is the nomenclature Naharin discerned for his dance vocabulary.  The film is mostly English & in Hebrew with English subtitles.  The language of dance is not only universal but visceral, powerful & healing.  Naharin encourages his dances to "find a way to let go-let go of everthing in your body at once."  He is a master storyteller through dance, direction & manipulation.  The movie begins with his early life on a kibbutz which he loved.  He was bereft when his family "tore him away" from the collective lifestyle he loved.  Naharin tells us he never thought of a career in dance or choreography but as something he loved doing.  He shares having an austic twin brother who could be connected with through dance.  Dancing for his brother was what he & his beloved grandmother did to reach his twin.  By the end of the film (which does elicit both cheers & tears) we can only grin at Naharin's admittance to concocting the story when being interviewed while on tour.  The adjectives that apply to Naharin's choreographric style are: absurdist, ingenious, physically demanding, provocative, innovative, powerful, unique, distressing, shocking & beautiful to list be a few. The accolades I would heap on his body of work are innumerable.  I urge you not only to see this insightful & exciting dance film but to seek out works by this brilliant choreographer.  Naharin's personal life seems an open book of endless fascination.  He migrated to the US from Israel with the Martha Graham Co but found himself at odds in the dance world.  Regardless, he auditioned for both Julliard & ABT schools of dance, was accepted by both and attended both simultaneously.  It's unheard of that he 1st studied ballet in his early 20's with classmates Peter Martins & Rudolph Nureyev.  He credits his animalistic instinctiveness in dance resulting from not being exposed to the rigorous & structured ballet training til late in life.  Naharin fell in love watching his soon to be wife, Mari Kajiwara (b US 1961-2001) performing with the Alvin Ailey Co (1970-1984.)  Naharin believes dance has the power to heal. "Everyone has a connection with physical sensation and capable of understanding the connection between effort and pleasure."  "Mr Gaga" a true story of love and dance is truly not to be missed.