The Noa Eshkol Chamber Dance Group
A Warrior & A Dreamer

The Chamber Dance Group – named initially The “Chamber Dance Quartet” – was founded in 1954 by Noa Eshkol to perform her compositions developed through the Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation (EWMN). Eshkol danced with the group until the late 1950s when she became increasingly focused on developing EWMN, composing, and teaching her dances. After she died in 2007, the group was renamed “The Noa Eshkol Chamber Dance Group” and features both veteran dancers – Rachaeli Nul Kahana and Ruti Sela – as well as new members who have since joined the group: Mor Bashan, Noga Goral, and Dror Shoval.

Dance performances by The Chamber Dance Group feature the basic material of all dance styles – the movement of the human body. For Eshkol, dance was a pure art form, in and for itself, to be practiced without scenery, costumes, or music. She treated the parts of the body as separate instruments, not unlike the musical instruments of an orchestra, each with its own rules of movement. Her compositions relied on seriality and the polyphonic forms of canon, fugue, etc. She used these forms to create polyphony between various parts of each dancer’s body and between the dancers as a group. Her profound understanding of the body, commitment to compositional methods, and inexhaustible creativity resulted in unique, complex, and exquisite masterpieces.

“The people who participate in these events work as a team for many years and are part of a larger team. What unites them is “movement notation” (dance notes). This subject is the nucleus around which daily work revolves. The mission (purpose) to establish an objectively valid system of movement symbols in the human body dictates the work ethic, tone, topic, and object of study. Bear in mind that the group is not intended to produce theatrical events as such, nor does it seek to “thrill” or “satisfy” the general public, with all due respect. To benefit or get enjoyment from the sessions offered, one should consider the “show,” which is necessarily created through its publicness, as a window into our laboratory.”

– Noa Eshkol, 1987 –

Noa Eshkol (b. 1924, Degania Bet, Mandatory Palestine; d. 2007, Holon, IL) was an Israeli choreographer and fine artist whose innovations in dance theory and movement studies were matched by her extensive, revelatory body of wall carpets. In 1954, Eshkol founded the Noa Eshkol Chamber Dance Group, which is still active. In 1958, Eshkol and her student, architect Avraham Wachman, developed the Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation (EWMN). This innovative system employed universal geometric principles to map and analyze the paths of limbs in motion with scientific precision. In 1973, Eshkol paused her choreographic practice and began creating resplendent compositions from collages of unmodified cloth remnants. Her work bridged figurative and abstract worlds, resulting in wall carpets she crafted daily until her passing. Her experiences with travel, nature, history, and cultural dynamics inspired her pieces, transforming these themes into rich, evocative tableaux.

Noa Eshkol has been the subject of international solo exhibitions, presented, among other places, at the Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin (2024); Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Norrköping (2022); Oslo Kunstforening, Oslo (2021); Casa do Povo, São Paulo (2021); Vleeshal, Middelburg and Kunstverein, Amsterdam (2017); Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (2016); Kunst- und Kulturstiftung Opelvillen Rüsselsheim, Rüsselsheim (2013); The Open Museum, Tefen Industrial Park, Kfar Vradim (2010); Hamumche Gallery, Tel Aviv (1998); Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod (1996); Designmuseum Danmark, Copenhagen (1980); and Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv (1978). Eshkol’s work was also included in biennials such as those in São Paulo (2021) and Sydney (2016), in significant group shows at the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art (2014) and Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (2013), and together with works by Sharon Lockhart at TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna (2012); The Jewish Museum, New York (2012); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (2012); The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (2011); and CCA – Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2011).