“When I was 14 I was exposed to Graham’s technique at Ehud Ben David’s studio in Netania. Through him I managed to study under a scholarship at the Company’s studio on Hahaskala Boulevard. I used to go there twice a week via the 33 bus line after studying at Thelma Yellin. My teachers were Ahuva Inbari and Moshe Romano, and they taught pure Graham. I really loved the technique, the drama and the sensuousness; it was a rebellion against the classic ballet I had known before.
In 1971 I joined the Company, which for me was the Holy of Holies. We were the generation that came after the founders. After Esther Nadler and Yair Vardi, I and Dalia Levy Dvir joined, and we were the youngest in the Company. I became an official Company dancer when I was given the parts of Tselila Goldstein, who was expecting, and became a soloist dancing Rina Schenfeld’s parts. In September 1974 I returned from a year at NDT to a group in decline. At first everything was primal, passionate and very dynamic, but later something went wrong and there was the feeling that the Company was abandoned, and there was no one to turn to. We wanted the unwritten rules of the Company to change, but realised it wasn’t going to happen. On January 1975 Esther Nadler, Rahamim Ron and I quite the Company and started working with Efrati, a move that later led to the establishment of the Kol Demama Dance Company.”
Gabi Bar, Dancer, 1971-1973, end of 1974