Ohad Naharin is situated at the forefront of the international dance scene. After performing with Batsheva Dance Company and the troupes of Martha Graham and Maurice Béjart, Naharin embarked on his choreographic career in 1980. His works have been staged on companies around the globe, and in 2018, Naharin assumed the role of Batsheva’s House Choreographer. As artistic director of Batsheva from 1990-2018, he guided the company with an adventurous artistic vision and reinvigorated its repertory with his captivating choreography. Naharin’s work was chronicled in Tomer Heymann’s documentary, Mr. Gaga (2015).

Parallel to his work as a choreographer and artistic director, Naharin has developed Gaga, an innovative and constantly evolving movement language that is available to both dancers and non-dancers. Gaga originated from Naharin’s need to communicate with his dancers and his curiosity in the ongoing research of movement. Gaga has revolutionized Batsheva’s training, enriched dancers’ interpretation of Naharin’s repertory, and emerged as a growing force in the larger field of movement practices worldwide.

Matan was born in Rishon LeZion, Israel in 1982. He started dancing as a child, and at the age of 15 was accepted to Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts. During these years, Matan also studied at Bat Dor Dance School, and at age 17 he attended the Juilliard summer program.

After high school, at age 18, Matan was accepted to the Batsheva Ensemble. He performed with the young company for two years before joining the main company for ten more seasons. During the twelve years Matan danced in Batsheva, he was a part of some of Ohad Naharin’s greatest creations such as Three, MAX, The Hole, and many more.

From 2013-2017, Matan was the director of the Batsheva Ensemble, which has become one of the leading young companies in the dance world. The year he became director, he won the Yair Shapira award, and the ensemble was named the best performing company by Israel’s Ministry of Culture.

From July 2020 until December 2021, Matan was the main rehearsal director for Batsheva Dance Company.

As part of Matan’s relationship with Naharin, Matan stages his choreography internationally. He has set work on the Paris Opera Ballet, Oslo Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, Gauthier Dance, Ballet De Rhin, and many more troupes. Matan has undertaken a long, meaningful process with Naharin’s movement language and is a senior teacher of Gaga.

Hsin-Yi Hsiang, a native of Taiwan, was born in the year of pig.
She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was awarded a four-year scholarship. Between 2007 and 2014, she danced with LeeSaar Company (led by choreographers Lee Sher and Saar Harari) in New York, and from 2014 to 2019, she was a dancer with Batsheva Dance Company.

Since 2019, Hsin-Yi has been collaborating with choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas and performing in works including: “Prelude to a Purge”, “Bacchae”, and “MAL”. Additionally, she serves as Marlene’s assistant in the productions “idiota”, “ÔSS”, and “LULU”.

Hsin-Yi is a certified Gaga teacher and a performing artist. In 2023, she was appointed as the Rehearsal Director of Batsheva Dance Company.

Hani Sirkis was born in 1998 in Israel. She graduated from Thelma Yellin High School of Arts’ Dance Department. Hani also studied at the Shira Ganor Dance School. She received the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship in the years 2013 and 2014 & won the Jeannette Ordman scholarship in 2015. Hani participated in Batsheva’s “Hamama” in 2014 and 2016. She also served in the IDF under the “Excellent Dancer” status.

Hani joined Batsheva – the Young Ensemble in 2016 and Batsheva Dance Company in 2018, where she danced until 2022.

Other than her work as a dancer and Gaga teacher, Hani also creates and performs as a drag queen under the stage name “Barbie Cute,” and manages the drag show “Kunty Klub.”