Shira Kagan Shafman - Choreography

"Dance creates a moment in time where I am the most myself and the least myself at once. As an artist my work stems from a performance-based movement practice and currently resides in a multidisciplinary conversation between dance, visual art, and sound. Through the practice of dance, which includes contemporary and modern forms as well as a history of experiencing Gaga in and outside of Israel, I work to create durational performance pieces. Where my background is in dance and movement practices, I have stepped into a world of mixed-media, involving the activation of sculptures and visual modalities. My works investigate memory, communication, genealogy, my relationship to Judaism, and my own history. All of my work begins in a place of research and investigation. This often involves interviews and conversations, a place of verbality that later turns into a space of movement. Where my artistic practice involves challenging the interdisciplinary nature of the art world, I am enthralled in investigating the ways in which memory stains our work, our bodies and selves. Through collaborating with other artistic disciplines and sharing the weight of the work, a necessity emerges to intertwine separate modes of working in order to create a piece that presents dance in conversation with visual art and sound."

Selected Works

Anchor in Continuum

Choreography: Shira Kagan-Shafman

Composer and violinist: Leandria Lott

Performers: Shira Kagan-Shafman and Leandria Lott

Premiered: Poster House museum, January 27, 2023

Restaged: Green Space, January 21, 2024

Baryshnikov Arts Center, July 28, 2023

Triskelion Arts, April 15, 2023