Ohad Naharin's 'Decadance' invites audience to break out of 'body jail'

Ohad Naharin has one rule: no mirrors in the rehearsal studio.

“The use of mirrors in the dance is a mistake. They spoil the soul of the dancer, (making them) look at himself instead of look at the world,” the 72-year-old Israeli choreographer said at a press conference Wednesday in Seoul, where he was overseeing final rehearsals for Seoul Metropolitan Ballet’s “Decadance.”

So when the Seoul Metropolitan Ballet began preparing for its season opener running from Friday to March 23 at the Sejong Center’s M Theater, every mirror in the studio was covered with curtains.

“We need to see the world. We need to sense the world when we move,” Naharin said. “If you want to be exact and clear, you need to find it through the scope of sensation, not by correcting your movement by looking at it.”

For nearly three decades, Naharin has shaped the landscape of contemporary dance, leading the renowned Batsheva Dance Company from 1990 to 2018. He is currently the company’s house choreographer. His artistic journey has been chronicled in the documentary “Mr. Gaga” and featured in Netflix’s documentary series, “Move.”

He is best known for creating “Gaga,” a unique language of movement that heightens physical awareness. Naharin likens it to strengthening one’s "engine": Life is difficult, and if you have a weak engine, lifting the weight is hard. But with a stronger engine, what was heavy feels lighter.

“What I look in Gaga is not just the movement but the quality of movement,” he said. “When you see two dancers doing the same movement -- one of them will make you cry and one of them will make you fall asleep. And you ask, ‘Why is it? What is it?’ I'm curious to find what it is that makes me cry.”

Constantly evolving masterpiece

“Decadance” is a curated collage of Naharin’s works, stitching excerpts from his past choreographies into a single performance.

Originally created in 2000 to mark his 10th anniversary as Batsheva’s artistic director, it has since been performed worldwide, including by the Paris Opera Ballet and the Gothenburg Opera Dance Company.

No two productions are the same, as each is a unique version tailored to the company at that time.

The Seoul Metropolitan Ballet’s 2025 production of "Decadance” features eight pieces, spanning from “Anaphaza” (1993) to “Anafase” (2023), set to an eclectic soundscape ranging from Israeli folk music to Latin rhythms like cha-cha and mambo. One of its most iconic moments involves dancers in black suits using chairs as props, while other segments blend humor, improvisation and direct audience interaction.

“The work I’m doing here is a piece that is constantly evolving, changing and taking on many different versions.”

Naharin described this reconstruction as a game on a playground and emphasized the ongoing sharing of his discoveries, both with dancers and audiences.

“’Decadance’ is an opportunity for me to share what I do now, but with a strong remembering of where I'm coming from. A lot about dancing is connected to being at the moment, but (it) also includes everything that has happened to me to this moment.”

Beneath the work’s dynamic evolution, Naharin’s message remains simple: everyone should dance.

“Many of us know the feeling of being locked inside the body. The body becomes a jail. But actually, if you think of dancing, it becomes the means to get out of the jail. It's the dancing that gets us free,” he said. “And ‘Decadance’ invites people not just to watch but also (embrace) the idea that we all need to dance.”