The traditional Woman Festival is on its way, presenting “Women Go All the Way.”
Holon Theater and Holon Municipality are producing, as tradition dictates, Woman Festival and will present a fascinating tapestry of feminine achievements with an abundance of performances, workshops, discussions, movies, and art and design installations. A variety of artists from Israel and abroad will participate in the festival.
Woman Festival 2013 will take place between February 27- March 2
This year, the artistic choices will focus on Women Who Go All the Way and Beyond, women who dared change their lives, who created new summits and paved the way for those following.
Among the women participating in Woman Festival 2013: Rivka Michaeli and friends in a special tribute evening; Rivka represents the entire spectrum of Israeli women; Fatoumata Diwarra, a wonderful African singer born in Mali who chose to desert a culture that advocates the oppression of women and live a life of artistic creation; Rita Antonopoulou, a Greek singer with a natural ability to express various genres of Greek music, from folk lyrics to dramatic ballads, and allows the public to enjoy a different experience every time anew; Hiske Eriks from Holland, a young actress who is taking theater festivals in Europe by a storm while choosing unexpected characters and going all the way, using humor and a unique observation of our extreme situations.
Woman Festival and Holon Theater have invested extensive thought in order to reveal a wide variety of content from the feminine world, and the unique artistic expression of the feminine point of view and angle.
The festival, which attracts more than 15,000 guests every year, highlights the achievements of women and artists of all fields, from Israel and abroad.
In the atmosphere of a Greek tavern, Chef Aviv Moshe will offer the guests a tapas menu during the entire festival.
This year, Sigal Weissbein Rosman, has assumed the role of the new artistic manager of Woman Festival. The festival is produced by Noa Gal-Or.
Prominent performances in Woman Festival 2013:
Pre-premiere screening of the film Alice, written and directed by Dana Goldberg
Pre-premiere screening of the film Alice, written and directed by Dana Goldberg - Alice, Dana Goldberg's debut film, received honorable mention in the Haggiag competition in the Jerusalem festival.Alice also won an award for Best Screenplay and Best Actress. Starring: Ilanit Ben-Yaacov, Chaim Zinati, Amos Shuv, Itai Nave, and Neta Bar-Raphael. The movie, Alice, follows a woman working nights in a rehabilitation boarding school for girls. She suffers from fatigue and emotional apathy, is emotionally isolated from her partner and son, and finds passion only in a secret affair that she's having at her workplace.
A discussion will take place at the end movie with the director and actors.
Thursday, 28 February, 20:00.
For first time in Israel the international artist: Fatoumata Diwarra- From Mali to Paris
The singer and artist Fatoumata Diwarra sings with her caressing voice and an African rhythm combining touches of contemporary, beautiful, charismatic jazz. Fatoumata Diwarra started her career as a dancer in Abidjan and in her early teens moved to Bamako where she launched a magnificent acting career. In her twenties, she moved to Paris (where she lives today) and spent six years on an international tour with the internationally renowned street theater troupe Royal de Luxe, which paved her way to a solo career. Fatoumata Diwarra combines in her songs musical traditions from South Mali with international influences. She has performed with Dee Dee Bridgewater, AfroCubism, Oumou Sangaré, and the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou. Her debut album, Fatou, from World Circuit Records was released in September 2011, and was included among the 50 leading albums of 2011 in the Sunday Times and won the title Album of the Year 2011 by WMCE.
Friday, 1 March, 22:00
Tribute to Rivka Michaeli “Not a Dull Moment”- Opening Performance
This year, the festival will dedicate its traditional tribute to one of the most beloved and unforgettable figures in Israeli entertainment and theater: Rivka Michaeli. Rivka, who has accompanied us from the days of the mythological Nikui Rosh [Cleaning One's Head] to the contemporary Golden Girls, is beloved by all of us thanks to the diverse characters she has featured- from every ethnic group, from every period, of every age- including Mrs. Tshuva, Kusanam Bezeq, the Engineer's Wife, and many more. The elite of Israel's actors will participate in this special evening, including Tikki Dayan, Chani Nachmias, Avi Grinak, Dror Keren, Ulla Shor, and many more, including Rivka herself who will perform sketches from a show written for her by Efraim Sidon. The performance will be accompanied byRonny Weiss's orchestra.
Wednesday, 27 February, 20:30
Music: Yael Kidar's Celebratory Premiere “Laundry Crises”
“Laundry Crises” is a kicking cabaret for parents only. This is an Israeli woman's rock show with a humorous wink of singer and artist, Yael Kidar. Kidar's show, created with her childhood friend Adi Gabai, provides a wonderful opportunity to touch “mid-life drama,” a place where most of us dwell-most of the time-and reveals facets that are silenced in the feminine experience, which poets and songwriters don't write about. Yael Kidar touches intimate places and examines existential questions within routine, marriage, motherhood, and intimacy. The rock show includes the performances of dancersAmit Levi and Rotem Greenberg.
Yael Kidar- piano; Adam Ben Amitai- guitars; Keren Teperberg- drums; Tzuk Dabusk- bass; Adam Sheflan and Daniel Solomon- musical production and adaptation; Adi Gabai Lev - director;Chaim Shemesh - artistic consultant.
Saturday, 2 March, 22:00 (stage 2)
Greek Special: “The Greeks - Songs of the Gods” Rita Antonopoulou, Tamuz Nissim, and Martha Mavroidi
In Woman Festival 2013, you will be able to enjoy intimate performances of singer-artists who combine traditional music, on which they were raised, with contemporary, original sounds. The performances will take place in a tavern-like atmosphere, over a glass of ouzo with Greek mezethes served every evening at the café.
Israeli musician Tumuz Nissan and Greek singer Martha Mavroidi, who met on the island of Paros, combine traditional Greek music from the Balkans with jazz and Hebrew music. They will present new adaptations of Hebrew and Greek folk songs along with original compositions created especially for their show.
Tamuz Nissim and Martha Mavroidi - Friday, 1 March, 22:00
Musical performance of Rita Antonopoulou- Friday and Thursday 27-28 February, 21:00
Closing Performance of the Festival- “Divas on the Edge.”
Drag Queen Band, The Sacred Wigs, hosts the great divas of Israeli entertainment
A special evening for the Woman Festival: the drag queen band, The Sacred Wigs, will sing with the greatest divas of Israeli entertainment. A rare and mad meeting of Israeli stars such as Orna Banai, Tzipi Shavit, and Mickey Kam with The Sacred Wigs, which include Talula Buna, Diva D, and Kiara Dupla, will sweep the crowd away with their crazy humor and prove, again and again, that to be a woman is one, big celebration.
Saturday, 2 March, 21:00
Fringe Theater from Holland: The Guard + Mrs. Cruyff
Hiske Eriks, a young artist and actress from Holland, is slowly conquering the theater festivals in Europe with an original and hilarious performance which won first prize in the Fringe Festival in Holland 2011. Hiske chooses characters of women and takes them to the edge of insanity. She proves that no one (maybe not even ourselves) is as they seem and nothing is foreseen. The evening is composed of two parts: The Guard, which examines an unusual evening experienced by a boring and bored guard in a museum-because we all feel an occasional urge to break free from the daily grind. The Guard is a hilarious performance without words, intended for anyone who has ever dreamed of doing things differently. Then, after a short intermission- Mrs. Cruyff, which presents the feminine version of one of the most admired Dutch football players of all times, Johan Cruyff, and reveals her world as a great star and a rising celeb. A must for football fans…
Part of the show is without words and some of it is in English. Concept and acting: Hiske Eriks
Wednesday, 28 February, 20:00 and Friday, 1 March, 21:00
Gala Evening for Axiom, the new premiere of Firefly Project
Woman Festival 2013 in cooperation with the Women's Council in Holon is proud to introduce the graduates of “Firefly” theater troupe, a group of young women who've experienced difficult circumstances in life. The project has been running for the past 4 years, established by The Holon Theater Acting Studio and Holon Municipality. This past summer, the project graduates-all of them inspiring women-were requested to band together for a new production. The play, Axiom, was written especially for them and directed by Yevgeny Kushnir. The play follows occurrences and dilemmas that take place during one, long night, in which a group of students visit their teacher on her birthday. This bold and powerful presentation raises moral and humane questions. An intimate meeting with the actresses, the director, and other guests will take place at the end of the play.
Saturday, 2 March, 18:30 (Stage 2)
Absalom- A Performance by Noam Meiri
Absalom is a cabaret artist whose greatest dream is to become a diva, yet he hasn't. Absalom invites his mother the performance of a lifetime in order to tell her, once and for all, everything she doesn't want to know. He appears on the stage in clothes similar to hers and is unable to keep a distance between them as she approaches old age and frailty. He now craves her proximity, yet does not want to get hurt. This staggering journey, and Absalom's burning desire to break free from the destiny life has shaped him, his patriotic, militant mother, reveal a new side that yearns to give and receive love. The concept of uniting the mother and son into one character sheds light humorously, sensitively, and painfully on the unresolved conflict between adult children and aging parents.
Wednesday, 27 February, 20:30 (Stage 3)
In addition to the performances taking place this year during the four-day festival, there will be lectures, workshops, conferences with exclusive contents related to women, among them a conference of the “La'Isha” magazine focusing on extremism in the world of fashion and life, an annual conference on architecture about The Power of Feminine Thought in the Public Space which will host three leading architectures from abroad; an exhibition of female students and graduates of the Holon Institute of Technology that break the boundaries defining “craft,” and feminine and masculine crafts and technology; a bloggers' conference sponsored by Saloona, a website for women, which will hold a live discussion with five leading bloggers who will talk about the blog that changed their lives.
Saturday, 2 March, 20:30
On Friday, 1 February, 09:30- “La'Isha” conference with a special fashion panel and on Saturday, 2 March, 11:00- Culture Saturday.
During the four-day festival, guests are invited to enjoy a rich Greek menu created by Chef Aviv Moshe in the nearby café, which will be converted to a chef restaurant with traditional Greek tavern ambience.
Woman Festival 2013 (since 1996) returns to us this year, initiated and produced by Holon Theater and Holon Municipality and dedicates its theme to women's achievements and their expression in all fields of life, including art, economy, society, and politics. Since the festival was first founded, the festival personnel invests comprehensive thought in order to expose a wide variety of content from within the feminine world, and unique artistic expression. The festival highlights the achievements of leading women and artists in all fields, and hosts every year prominent women and many stars from Israel and the world.
Woman Festival 2013// 27-28/2--1-2/3
All performances and events will take place in Holon Theater for the Performing Arts
11 Kugel Blvd.
Parking in place
Woman Festival 2013 will take place between the dates 27 February- 2 March
For further information and booking: /http://www.hth.co.il
