Conscious of moment, ‘Never/Mind’ comes to Pittsburgh
'You can't avoid all the noise, but you have to kind of shut yourself out from it and go to work. That's all you can do'
There’s an irony to the words “never mind.” Definitionally, the phrase means pay no heed, but dismissal requires initial awareness.
Roni Koresh, the artistic director of Koresh Dance Company, appreciates that moment between cognizance and rejection. It’s why he created “Never/Mind.”
The contemporary dance performance, which Pittsburghers can enjoy Oct. 16 at Point Park University Pittsburgh Playhouse, utilizes “elegance, beauty, sensuality and just wonderful physicality” to impart a message, Koresh, 64, said by phone from his studio in Center City, Philadelphia.
There are periods in life, he said, where people “give you suggestions of what to do.” If it happens enough, “it starts becoming really annoying because it’s kind of swaying you from your own integrity and your own vision.”
After experiencing the phenomenon repeatedly, Koresh said he finally responded, “Never mind.” The expression reflected a desire to “do my thing,” he said. “If you have a great idea, you go do it yourself. You go and put it out there, and I will come and gladly sit there and watch it and be inspired by it.”
Koresh’s newest work is born of that sentiment, as it’s about “freedom of expression, freedom of artistic expression,” but there’s a deeper, more personal element weaving through the show. “I’m going through a lot right now: emotionally, mentally and physically, because of what is going on politically,” he said. “I’m Jewish, so all of this — what’s happening as far as antisemitism and people all over the world rejecting Israeli anything, Israeli products, Israeli humans — that’s very painful.”
Adding distress is the diminishment of arts-related funding, he continued.
“What people don’t understand is that my company and other companies that are touring companies rely on income from traveling, and touring and performing in many different places — that’s how you pay your dancers,” he said. Without funding, theaters often cancel shows.
“They tell you, ‘We love you, but we can’t afford bringing you.’ So it’s a double whammy, and it’s affecting everything because I still have to come up with a budget to sustain the organization.”
“Never/Mind” seizes the moment by exclaiming, “I didn’t get my funding. Never mind. I’ll figure it out,” or, when one’s identity is attacked, it’s the same, he said. “Never mind. I’m proud to be who I am, what I am. I know what culture I come from. I know the achievements and what we have done and we’ve been there before, and we will be there probably in the future.”
Koresh told the Chronicle he’s a “citizen of the world” and a “channel” to allow people to “put out beautiful and inspiring things.”
He refuses to see the current climate as an impediment to his responsibilities and hopes others can do the same.
“You can’t avoid all the noise, but you have to kind of shut yourself out from it and go to work. That’s all you can do. This is why I was drawn to the arts, because in the arts, in my studio, when we work, that’s my world. I create the world that I want to live in. I just create a world where things are beautiful, things are amazing. And yes, of course, I also depict things that are real, and present them out there, but in my work the outcome is always hope.”
“Never/Mind” is a call to inspire, he explained.
“Never mind the noise,” he said. “Never mind that we have wars that are erupting. Never mind all of that. Go do what you do. Make the world a better place through what God gave you. God gave you a talent. Don’t waste it.”
Koresh said he often tells his troupe their responsibility isn’t to propel showgoers to become dancers. Instead, it’s to remind audiences that “there are people out there, which are the dancers, that are giving everything they have through thick and thin, through hardship and lack of financial resources, and they are doing what they love to do.”
When attendees see that, he continued, it’s a push to return to painting, piano or any hobby, “something that you really loved and you neglected it, and you didn’t think maybe that you were good enough,” and simply say “never mind what everybody thinks about you. Go and do what you really love to do.”
Making that choice adds a “drizzle” to the environment, he said. The world doesn’t change instantaneously, “but if it grows one plant, wonderful.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
comments