Oshra Elkayam-Ronen (1939-2022)
Born in Netanya to a family of farmers, she began studying dance with Gertrud Kraus in Tel Aviv in the early 1950s, and took part in her last dance peace Samson and Delilah. She also took part in Bimat Mahol (Dance Stage), the dance company of Rena Gluck, Rina Shaham and Naomi Aleskovski. In 1956, the saw Martha Graham’s company perform in Israel and decided to study her technique. With the a scholarship donated by Batsheva de Rothschild, she travelled to New York and studied in the Martha Graham School, as well as at the Juilliard School’s Choreography Department, with Antony Tudor and Louis Horst. Upon her graduation in 1963, Rothschild invited her to join the founders of Batsheva, together with other Israelis who studied in New York at the time, including Ahuva Anbari, Shimon Levi and others.
Elkayam-Ronen danced in Batsheva in 1963-1967 in many pieces, including: Daughters of the Garden, Luna Park/ An Excursion, Herodiade, The Learning Process, Celebrants (1964); Diversion of Angels, The Mythical Hunters, Nocturne (1965). In 1965, she choreographed for Batsheva for the first time, Adam & Eve, and later David & Goliath (1966).
In 1967, Elkayam Ronen left Batsheva and created the Oshra Elkayam Dance Company together with Ruth Eshel, which performed for about two years in Haifa. In 1969, together with Heda Oren, she established a regional dance studio (Ulpana Le’mahol) in the Jordan Valley. At the end of that year, she was one of the founders of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (KCDC), and choreographed Homage to Paul Klee (1970) for the company’s first program in Kibbutz Yagur. Throughout the 1970s, she choreographed pieces for many companies, including Inbal and KCDC. She also choreographed for Batsheva under the artistic director Kaj Lothmann: Journey to Nowhere (1974) and Apocalypse (1975).
In 1980, Elkayam-Ronen established the Movement Theater Group, and won the Kinor David Award for her work Terminal (1980). This work was staged for years in the Israel Festival, Berlin Festival, Edinburgh Festival and the Centre Georges Pompidou. She also won the Gurit Kadman Award for 1989, and the 2003 Minister of Education Award for Dance Artists.
Oshra Elkayam-Ronen passed away on October 2022.
