Katja Erfurth

Noa Eshkol (1924–2007), an Israeli dancer, choreographer, and artist of Ukrainian-Jewish descent, developed an analytical-geometric movement notation system that transcribed dance like a musical score. In her piece “Partitur des Körpers” (Score of the Body), Katja Erfurth explores Eshkol’s artistic journey, examines her choreographic principles, and integrates them into her own dance practice. As a student of Gret Palucca, Katja Erfurth has been engaged for many years with the history of dance, particularly with Mary Wigman and her school in Dresden, from which Palucca emerged. One of Palucca’s colleagues, Tile Rössler (Tehila Ressler), was forced to leave the Palucca School and Germany in 1933 because she was Jewish, and went on to teach in Tel Aviv after 1933. She serves as the link to Noa Eshkol. Eshkol further developed the origins of expressive dance with an unwavering interest in transcribing dance through a highly complex notation system and, conversely, in analyzing and reflecting on that notation.