Rina Yerushalmi

Rina Yerushalmi was born in 1939 in Afula.

Yerushalmi began studying dance in Yardena Cohen’s studio in Haifa at age six, and continued studying there until 1957. She also studied the piano and singing. At age 18, she moved to Tel Aviv and studied dance with Rena Gluck for two years, until 1959. After her military service she moved to London to study expressionist dance with Sigurd Leeder, and later with Kurt Jooss in Germany.

In 1961, Yerushalmi was admitted to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she studied stage management and direction until 1962. Upon her return to Israel, she worked as assistant director and stage manager with leading impresario Giora Godik. She managed the productions Fiddler on the Roof, Man of La Mancha, The King and I and also Porgy and Bess.  At the same time, she studied acting with Nola Chilton at the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in Tel Aviv in 1964-66.
In 1967, Yerushalmi moved to the US to study for her MFA degree in Theater Directing from the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh (1970). She then worked in New York as a director in universities and the experimental theater La MaMa under Allan Stewart’s direction in 1970-74, and again in 1982. In 1972 she travelled to Japan where she studied Noh and Kyōgen in Tokyo.
Following Yerushalmi’s return to Israel, in the late 1970s and early ‘80s she directed in various theaters and in the opera. In 1977 she choreographed Batsheva’s The Dybbuk and also designed its costumes. Her theater works include Malone Dies (1978), Six Characters in Search of an Author (1986), Faust (1986), The Chairs (1990), Hansel and Gretel (1990), La Juive (1993), Hedda Gabler (1994), and Electra (2000).

In 1989, Yerushalmi founded the Itim Theater Ensemble which resides on Nahmani Street in Tel Aviv and operates with complete artistic freedom and independent management under the Cameri Theater’s sponsorship. The ensemble’s productions include: Hamlet (1989-1993), Woyzeck 91 (1991-92), Romeo and Juliet (1993-95), Bible Project (1996-2000), Mythos (2002-3), Three Sisters (2004-5), and Midsummer Night’s Dream (2006-7). The ensemble performs in Israel and abroad and represents Israel in international theater festivals.

Yerushalmi is Professor Emeritus at the Tel Aviv University Department of Theater and was formerly Associate Professor of Theater at New York University. She was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2001. She won the Margalit Award for Best Play of the Year (1990); the Moshe Levi Award for Outstanding Director and Contribution to Israeli Culture (1992); the Israeli Theater Academy Award (1999); the Yosef Milo Award for Outstanding Director (1999); Rosenblum Award for the Performing Arts (2000); the Landau Award for Theater (2004); and the Woman of Tel Aviv medal (2007). In 2008, she won the Israel Prize for Theater.