From Beersheba to European stages: The choreographer who turned a fall into renewal
Adi Boutrous has become one of the most prominent Israeli dance creators on the international scene. On August 7, the Israel Festival in Jerusalem will present his new co-production, "Portraits of a Fall."
In recent years, Adi Boutrous has become one of the most prominent Israeli dance creators on the international scene. His works are commissioned for festivals across Europe, where they receive enthusiastic reviews. On August 7, the Israel Festival in Jerusalem will present "Portraits of a Fall," a co-production with the Théâtre de la Ville - Paris and the MART foundation.
Boutrous (36) is a choreographer, dancer, and sound designer born in Beersheba to an Arab-Christian family. "At 22, I held a ballet barre for the first time. After three years, I started creating and dancing in the independent field," he says. Since his 2013 debut, "What Really Annoys Me," he has performed at major European institutions and won the Minister of Culture and Sport's prize for dance creation in 2022.
In "Portraits of a Fall," six dancers are trapped in an endless cycle of physical challenges: climbing, collapsing, and building fragile human structures. "The choreography is an allegory for a group trying to exist in a shared space through struggle and power states, and simultaneously, support and a longing for a shared direction," Boutrous explains.
He notes that the English title, "Nature of a Fall," carries multiple meanings, including the autumn leaf-fall. "The leaves need to leave the tree to die and revive it anew. Similarly, something in us needs to kill certain values to build new ones. This is the conceptual anchor of the work."
