“I was building sets for the Cameri and other theatres, but at Batsheva the work had to be very precise because the dancers actually danced on the set itself. We worked with Dani Karavan,who was a father figure for of all the set workers, we were in charge of construction and initial setup on stage, and later, sometimes reparations and changes were required. There was rapport between the technical crew and stage people. Lighting technicians, Dan Redler and Moshe Fried, would sometimes come and see the set being manufactured. I’d come to see the shows because it was part of my job, but also because it interested me a lot, and also because I was friends with some of the dancers and Rina Schenfeld in particular. Sometimes, when it was complicated to raise the set, I would join them on tours abroad. In one of the tours we reached Bath [England] for a performance, Gary Bertini was conducting the orchestra that played, while the set was erected on stage for the next dance. But they didn’t bring the ‘David’ statue, because they forgot. Francois Schapira didn’t know what to do, so I asked for one of the dancers’ costume, wore it, went on stage and put the statue. It was a Rina Schenfeld dance.”
Zeev (Shemen) Halperin, Irgunit Owner, 1964-1978