The dancers are the real gems in Vertigo’snew work, ‘Reshimo,’ an aesthetic experiencethat projectsan energeticsense of continuity

Rachimo by Israel’s Vertigo Dance Company, refers, according to the company’s English-language website, to “the imprintof past impressionleftwithin. kabbalisticidea pertainingto the impressionof light the fine outline which remains when the lightsare gone and are no longer there.” ChoreographerNoa Wertheim sets out to giveform to the ineffable. “Reshimo” flows by like water, like lightwaves, which leave no trace and tellno story.Their presence is fleetinglyevanescent, inhabitingthe fine linebetween material and spiritual. Low, rectangularwhite lamp shades, evoking Japanese gardenor shrine, mark the boundaries of the stage,creatingan atmospherethat isclean,aesthetic,not to say ascetic.All eightdancers are on stageforthe entireperformance, sometimes sittingon the stoolsof light. There is quieton the stage duringthe dance, with flowingmotion of weight shifted from side to side.Graduallyall the dancers come togetherto forge connection ofwholeness, holdinghands in moving chain held togetherby energy. One of them utters syllable, which she repeats over and over as though wanting the sound to awaken the source of energy in the body,not relentinguntilthe palms of her hands are suffused with vibrationsand begin to shake Photos byMaayan Holam The dancers’ motions consist of small body-touchingmovements, which have characterized Wertheim’s work since her firstduet for Vertigoin .2991 These are accompaniedby virtuoso,but nevertheless soft,movements. The extremities of the body the palms of the hands and the feet are limp,as though to refrain from blockingthe inner tunnels of motion. The dancers are excellent, moving throughthe space with lightjumps as though trampoline-propelled,every motion honed and shining.Toward the end, autumn leaves cascade onto the stage,leaves that have ended theirlife and withered, dyingamid beauty,and the dancers of “Reshimo” commune with them, leapingupward intolifeand falling-rolling intothe leaves,as though desperateto disappearinto them and become one with nature. “Reshimo” is an aesthetic experience, projectinggratifyingcontinuity, without dramatic peaks.The real gems are the dancers.