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N O T E

Five women in red, on a narrow white floor, exposing themselves to stubborn cliches of femininity which appear at every turn. Voices go up to please, to protest, to pacify. Gestures are minimal. Flirtatious, as if taken from the catalogue of male fantasy. Although it might seem that the women are the ones in the spotlight, there is no mistaking the risk for all those who sit in the dark and observe. There is a risk it may hurt you, embarrass you, outrage you, frighten you, provoke in you a profound need to deny and, above all, expose you, the flesh and blood spectator who sits in front of them, to the workings of your own mind. Five women are gathered here, engaged in a complicated dialogue with the expectations and demands of society sitting invisibly, mightily, inescapably upon all our shoulders.

It is difficult to write about Girls. It resists dismantling like a live creature. In an almost miraculous manner, it succeeds in being a contradiction in terms. This is a formalistic work, to the bone, which does not have even a drop of rigidity or dryness. It is full of grace but also wisdom and depth; it is frivolous and objectifying yet at the same time also censorious and saturated with grief and pain. 

- Roy Assaf + Ariel Freedman

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Roy Assaf and Ariel Freedman traveled from Tel Aviv to Nashville in February 2019 to conduct a four-week creative residency with New Dialect. During the residency they re-worked Roy’s Girls into its latest iteration with a new ending created in collaboration with the dancers.

Assaf, an Israeli choreographer, former soldier, and a father of 3 daughters, first created Girls in 2014 with the support of the Intima Dance Festival hosted by Tmuna Theatre in Tel Aviv. The work shares his response to female stereotypes in contemporary society.

With the support of The Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast Region, Girls received its U.S. premiere alongside Banning Bouldin's The Triangle at OZ Arts Nashville in a SOLD OUT three-night run, February 22-24, 2019.

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February 20, 2019

Roy and Ariel led a masterclass for 50 members of the Nashville dance community onstage at OZ Arts Nashville. Afterwards participants were invited to stay and watch a tech rehearsal of GIRLS.

Roy and Ariel’s residency was supported by the generosity of