‘Wild Awake’ is one of the most aesthetically beautiful dance performances I have ever witnessed. It has stylistic perfection that blends with a color scheme that is sometimes monochromatic and sometimes a combination of colors, such as black, white, and red, all enhanced by ingenious lighting. This is why I went to see the performance again after first seeing it in March 2023, about a year and a half ago.

Since then, I have seen Kamea Dance Company in a newer performance, ‘White Face.’ The difference is that ‘Wild Awake’ premiered before October 7th. The world was complex, but much more optimistic. Hence, Tamir Ginz’s creation, the founder and choreographer of the Be’er Sheva-based company, had much more joy and optimism in it.

The show begins with lighting candles on a birthday cake, reminding us that Kamea Dance Company is celebrating its 20th anniversary. After the original opening, we see different segments featuring a variety of themes, most of which highlight joy and positive energy, though there are also more complex and thought-provoking pieces. There are different segments in terms of the dancers’ compositions. Some parts feature only women, illustrating relationships within groups of women—friendship, closeness, distance, jealousy, and reconciliation. Other segments feature only men, portraying male dynamics, power relations, alongside friendship and sensitivity. Additionally, there are dance pieces that describe different relationships between men and women, with all their complexities: love and closeness, distancing and reconnection, and even a segment portraying a relationship between two men, which is also complex.

One of the most interesting and thought-provoking dance pieces is the man in chains, the bound man struggling to break free, fighting for his liberty. The piece sparks reflection—each person with their own interpretations, of course—but for me, the thoughts it evoked are related to our current situation and how capable we are, or aren’t, in influencing the course of events that control our lives.

Tamir Ginz defined the show as a personal fantasy wandering into moments of happiness and visions of unfulfilled desires, echoes of memories, and true love. I saw something else in the performance, but as mentioned, dance is open to personal interpretations, and each of us is free to see something different, even if the choreographer had other intentions. To me, the show dealt with human nature and relationships within a social world from various angles. Primarily, it reflects the complexity of relationships between people and the elements that hinder us, both on a personal and group level, alongside the factors that allow us to advance and resolve conflicts.