Rina Schenfeld

Rina Schenfeld
Name	Rina Schenfeld
Native name	רינה שנפר
Birth date	1938
Birth place	Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
Occupation	Dancer, choreographer, teacher
Years active	1950s–2000s
Notable works	A Walk in the City, Tzena, The Best of Schenfeld
Spouse	Zvi Goren

Rina Schenfeld is an Israeli modern dancer, choreographer, and pedagogue whose career spans the formative decades of Israeli dance. She helped shape the repertory and institutional structures of dance in Israel through performance, creative collaboration, and teaching, contributing to the emergence of a distinct Israeli modern dance idiom. Schenfeld’s work engaged with Israeli cultural themes, international modernist trends, and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Early life and education

Born in Tel Aviv in 1938, Schenfeld grew up amid the cultural ferment of Mandatory Palestine and the early State of Israel alongside contemporaries from Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Habima Theatre, and the emerging community around Gaza-strip settler narratives. She studied ballet and modern dance in local studios influenced by teachers trained in Martha Graham technique, Laban notation, and European expressionist dance traditions stemming from Mary Wigman and Rudolf Laban. Her formative training included instruction connected to institutions such as Institut Français de Tel Aviv, United Kibbutz Movement cultural centers, and classes inspired by touring companies associated with American Ballet Theatre, Merce Cunningham, and Alwin Nikolais aesthetics.

Dance career and choreography

Schenfeld began performing professionally in the late 1950s and early 1960s, appearing in programs alongside artists from Batsheva Dance Company, Inbal Dance Theater, and guest choreographers from London Contemporary Dance Theatre and Moscow State Academy of Choreography. Her early choreographies drew attention in festivals curated by Israel Festival and venues including Habima Theatre and Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center. She created solos and ensemble pieces that were presented in collaboration with music by composers associated with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Electronic Music Studio Jerusalem, and chamber composers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem commissions.

Batsheva Dance Company and collaboration with Baruch Agadati

Schenfeld was associated with the formative years of the company now known as Batsheva Dance Company, working in the milieu shaped by pioneers such as Baruch Agadati and collaborators from the Israel Ballet scene. Her collaborations included creative exchange with artists connected to Agadati’s legacy, performances at events organized by Tel Aviv Municipality cultural programming, and partnerships with choreographers who had links to Gad Granach and early Israeli modernists. She performed works influenced by Agadati-era theatricality alongside repertory from international guest choreographers invited by Batsheva School and participated in tours that visited venues like Sadler's Wells Theatre and cultural festivals in Paris Opera circuits.

Artistic style and innovations

Schenfeld’s choreographic language synthesized expressionist bodywork, floor techniques associated with Martha Graham, release principles from Merce Cunningham circles, and improvisational strategies akin to Jerome Robbins and Anna Sokolow. She explored theatrical staging influenced by Josef Albers color theories in set design collaborations, and integrated lighting concepts employed by designers who worked at Habima Theatre and Habima National Theatre. Her innovations included site-specific projects presented in public spaces administered by Tel Aviv Municipality and cross-disciplinary productions partnering with visual artists from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and composers linked to Inbal Ensemble.

Teaching, mentorship, and institutional roles

Schenfeld taught at institutions that trained generations of Israeli dancers, including schools associated with Batsheva School, studios connected to Inbal Dance Theater, and workshops held in venues linked to Israel Festival and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She mentored dancers who later joined companies such as Batsheva Dance Company, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and Bat-Dor Dance Company. Her pedagogical approach drew on techniques propagated by Martha Graham, Rudolf Laban, and teachers who emigrated from Europe to Israel, and she served on juries for competitions hosted by organizations like Ministry of Culture and Sport (Israel) and festivals organized by Tel Aviv Municipality.

Awards and recognition

Over her career Schenfeld received recognition from Israeli cultural bodies and was honored in programs run by institutions such as Israel Prize committees, Tel Aviv Municipality arts awards, and fellowships administered by America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Her work featured in retrospectives at venues associated with Batsheva Dance Company and was acknowledged by critics writing for publications linked to Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, and arts journals connected to Beit Ariela Library programming.

Legacy and influence on Israeli dance

Schenfeld’s influence persists through dancers and choreographers she trained, repertory pieces that remain in study curricula at schools like Batsheva School and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, and through archival recordings held by cultural repositories such as Israel Film Archive and collections curated by Ministry of Culture and Sport (Israel). Her synthesis of international modernist techniques with Israeli cultural themes contributed to dialogues that informed later generations at institutions including Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Bat-Dor Dance Company, and newer collectives that arose from the post-1990s Israeli dance scene.

Category:Israeli female dancers Category:Israeli choreographers