Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater

The Home for Dance in Israel. The Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre is Israel's premier presenter of Israeli and international contemporary dance companies. Established in 1989, the mission of the Suzanne Dellal Centre is to cultivate, support and promote the art of contemporary dance in Israel. The Centre pursues this mission by offering diverse performances, events, festivals, and workshops from the worlds of contemporary dance, theatre and performing arts.

The Suzanne Dellal Centre has two primary goals: to create world-class dance productions and engaging educational activities; and to facilitate high-quality presentation of Israeli and international choreographers. The Centre has launched dozens of innovative programs to nurture and support new work and emerging artists, providing platforms to expose young artists and bring dance to new audiences.

The Suzanne Dellal Centre's sprawling multi-level campus consists of four performance halls, rehearsal studios, restaurant and cafe, and wide plazas that host outdoor performances and events. The Centre is home to the Batsheva Dance Company, Inbal Dance Theatre and Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak Dance Company.

In 2010 the Suzanne Dellal Centre was awarded the Israel Prize, the country's most prestigious prize and highest honour. In the years since its founding, the Centre is responsible for putting Israeli dance on the map. It has been the launching point for many Israeli choreographers and festivals. Today, as the dance ecosystem of Israel continues to grow and flourish, Suzanne Dellal Centre remains a center point of the scene, presenting and producing hundreds of performances each year, hosting festivals and programs which offer opportunities for dance artists in all stages of development.

Yerushalmi Building 1989

The Centre was established in 1989 by the Dellal Family of London, England, in honour of their daughter Suzanne, as well as the Municipality of Tel Aviv Yafo, the Tel Aviv Foundation, and the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Education. Yair Vardi was selected to lead the Centre's vision and remains the Director to this day. The Centre is located in the centre of historic Neve Tzedek, the first neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, located south of the Yemenite Quarter, just minutes from the Mediterranean Sea. Three late-19th century school buildings, designated for preservation, were reconstructed and restored to create the performing arts centre, which was intended to give a home to contemporary dance in Israel and rejuvenate the neighborhood. The original compound held the Yechiely Girls School and the Alliance School for boys. In 1913, Seminar Lewinsky, Tel Aviv's first teaching academy, was founded nearby. After World War II much of Neve Tzedek was left to decay.

Yerushalmi Building 1989

In 1986 a plan was formed to revitalise the neighbourhood and rehabilitate the compound to build the Suzanne Dellal Centre, a dance centre the likes of which had not been seen in Israel. Most of the buildings were empty and in derelict condition and the Lewinsky Seminar building had collapsed. The Girls School was empty except for a theatre group run by Oded Kotler and Miki Yerushalmi operating out of the second floor. In between these the buildings ran Yechieli Street. In the "backyard" was a small building where the Inbal Dance Company, founded by Sara Levi-Tanai, would practice.

The intention of the construction was to preserve as much of the original buildings as possible. The main building's the façade was reinforced, the internal walls demolished and redesigned according to the needs of the future theatre. Other buildings were preserved or rebuilt as a copy of the originals. The building intended for the Batsheva Dance Company, located across from the well, is a new building, but its design was intended to create a continuation of the surrounding buildings. The construction materials, both in and around the buildings, maintain in colour and detail the historic quality and atmosphere of the location.

The Suzanne Dellal complex was envisioned to allow movement with no obstruction. The entire ground floor was levelled to allow the public to move freely at all hours of the day, even when there are activities in the theatres. The project's architect, Elisha Rubin, petitioned the Tel Aviv municipality to remove Yechieli Street where it ran between the two main buildings of the compound. Once approval was granted, the walls and gates which fenced in the two schools were taken down and the buildings were brought together around one central square, which serves as an active courtyard and pedestrian walkway.

The Centre was designed with a walking route which would connect Tel Aviv's Jaffa Road from the east with the beach to the west. The path begins on Jaffa Road and continues over the bridge on Aharon Chelouche Street to Amzaleg Street, then cuts through the courtyards, past the water well (discovered during construction), across the main square and through the main building's colonnade. From the main building, the row of eucalyptus trees directs straight to Charles Clore Park and the beach.

The Centre is currently (2017–18) undergoing reconstruction, which includes the addition of the new Zehava and Jack Dellal Studio, named in honour of the beloved members of the Dellal Family, the Centre's early donors. The new flexible performance-studio space will be built on the roof of the central building, above the Yerushalmi Hall. The added third floor will contain a 400 square metre performance studio, with 100 seats and a glass wall opening to a large rooftop balcony. On the second floor will be an enclosed patio and a re-designed Yerushalmy Theatre.

In 2010 the Suzanne Dellal Centre was awarded the Israel Prize, the country's most prestigious prize and highest honour.

"In its 20 years of activity in Neve Tzedek, the Suzanne Dellal Centre has succeeded in uplifting the art of dance in Israel. The great many diverse artistic endeavours of the Centre have spawned a new generation of artists, creators, and performers in the field of artistic dance. Creative excellence on the Centre’s stages has broadened, and continues to broaden, the circle of dance-lovers. The Centre opened the gates of the world’s dance stages to the Israeli dance scene and allowed Israeli dance to make its mark on the world. Since its establishment, the Suzanne Dellal Centre has become the home and anchor of all artistic endeavours in the field of contemporary dance in Israel." -Gideon Saar, Minister of Education, Israel's 62nd Independence Day, Jerusalem, April 20, 2010

The award was presented by: President of Israel, Shimon Peres; Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu; Knesset Speaker, Reuven Rivlin; Supreme Court justice, Dorit Beinisch; Jerusalem Mayor, Nir Barkat; Minister of Education, Gideon Sa'ar[1]

Suzanne Dellal Hall

The Suzanne Dellal Centre has initiated and hosted many of Israel's dance platforms.

Over the years the Suzanne Dellal Centre has commissioned full-length works from selected choreographers:

Barak Marshall, Rooster (2010)

Barak Marshall Rooster at Suzanne Dellal Centre 2010

This work is based on I.L. Peretz's "Bontsha the Silent", Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" as well as several stories from the Bible and Yemenite folklore. A co-production of The Suzanne Dellal Centre and The Israeli Opera.

Renana Raz, The Diplomats (2011)

Renana Raz, The Diplomats 2011 by Gadi Dagon

The piece disconnects national anthems from their political patriotic context and suggests a more private and emotional interpretation. The body, which during the playing of the anthem is normally required to stay still, for the first time is granted the opportunity to dance to its melody.

• List of Israel Prize recipients

• Tel Aviv Municipality
• Israeli Ministry of Culture & Sport
• DanceEurope 2006, Ha’Aretz

• Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre
• Bat Sheva Dance Company
• Inbal Pinto & Avshalom Pollack Dance Company
• Inbal Dance Theatre
• Orna Porat Children's Theatre
• History of Suzanne``
• Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre at Google Cultural Institute