Tsila
An interdisciplinary performance that strides the fine line between documentary and stage art.
The performance is based on the moving and inspiring story of Tsila Hayun’s rehabilitation story. She is a woman in the middle of her life who was mortally injured and returned to life.
Out of the great nothingness, she weaves her identity from scratch. The encounter between the personal voice which tells its story, and the art of the stage, invites us to observe life as an act of art.
Tsila was critically wounded, almost lost her life, returned to the land of the living, and was deemed a ‘medical miracle’
Premier in 2012, Suzanne Dellal Center, Israel
She agreed to share with me the thoughts that came up during her rehabilitation, and did so with great sensitivity. From vast ‘nothingness’ she slowly conducts a dialogue between her intuition and the medical findings, reweaving her identity. How she coped and continues to cope with her ongoing rehabilitation raises existential questions about life, about the amount of responsibility we have for our life, and how we choose to live it. By means of artistic language, questions that arise from Tsila’s story transform from a personal story into a universal one.
"Tsila" is an interdisciplinary performance that treads the fine line between documentary and performing arts, bringing together in collaboration a dancer, an actor/dancer, a paper artist, and video and sound artists. The encounter between the personal voice telling its own story and theatrical arts invites the audience into new realms and offers a reflection on life as a work of art.
In this work paper serves as a metaphor and is drawn from the content world of Tsila’s rehabilitation story. On the one hand paper is brittle, it can easily tear, much like her fragile body, while on the other it can be used to create new forms and contexts, similar the neural bypasses Tsila created in her brain, changing its neurological form which aided her with the rehabilitation process.
The performance incorporates documentary materials taken from Tsila’s story. The soundtrack is partly constructed from conversations I had with Tsila and the doctors who treated her (Professor Avi Rivkind, director of the Trauma Unit at Hadassah Medical Center, and Dr. Yossi Chalamish, a researcher from the Weizmann Institute of Science specializing in brain research and emotions).
Reviews
“…I can’t recall a theatrical or other experience in recent years that has moved me as much as Liss’s work did… She dares to touch materials associated with the body and consciousness, and to ask the most meaningful question of all: What do we actually call a life? A meaningful life? …Definitely worth getting out of the house for…”
Billy Moscona-Lerman, Saloona Site
“Modern dance is liable to fall into dramatics, into ideational obscurity and lack of communication, but here the choreography was so emotive and precise that it functioned as a tangible language… Within just one hour the performance manages to present Hayun’s emotional story, and enables the audience to contain it with love. Not just recommended, it is a must-see!” Michal Kleinberg, Alt.life Magazine
“Video clips projected onto the back screen with its folds, reminiscent of the folds of the brain, describe the dreams of a woman in a coma… There is a hypnotic, seductive beauty in them… Liss possesses refined taste, and it is evident that she was selective in her choice of texts. Those of Hayun are particularly powerful… Nais’s and Avni’s performances inspire trust in their natural quality that verges on the everyday.”
Ruth Eshel, Haaretz
Viewers Reviews
"The journey invites us to touch the regions of pain, to meet the hidden healing powers of the body and the spirit, and no less - it calls upon us to look with honesty at the great questions of life."Tzila" touched me deep inside and uplifted my spirit and soul."
Dr. Naama Oshri
"It was a strong and meaningful experience facing the materials that came up… I am very impressed with how you enter areas of creativity that deviate from patterns and templates that are safe, and from the courage and human strength that arise through your work."
Miki Cohen
"It was amazing! An exciting and exhilarating experience. Many years we are waiting for such an experience…"
Bonny and Elisha Amrami
Artists and co-creators:
Story: Tsila Hayun / Performing dancers: Iris Nise, Tal Avni / Performance and paper art: Hadass Gertman / Soundtrack design and editing: Moshe Shasho / Video filming, design and editing: Niv Ben-David
Light design : Uri Rubinstein / Soundtrack: Conversations with Tsila Hayun / Voice-over: Prof. Avi Rivkind / Music: Soledad Villamil, Concha Buika, Carlos Gardel ,Tal Avni / Musical consultant, original music and singing: Tal Avni / Stage, props and costume design: Hadass Gertman / Performance manager: Noa Rosenthal/ Projection: Rimoninio / Science consultant: Dr. Yossi Chalamish / Foto: Photography - Eli Passi, Graphic Design: Nurit Brande
Length of show: 60 minutes
Supported by the: Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sports, Israel Lottery Council for the Art. Israeli Choreographers Association.