First Things

Michael Getman

First Things, recipient of the Israeli Ministry of Culture Award for Solo Performance ( 2024), is a solo work composed of three chapters. Each part begins from a simple premise: one body — one point, one beat, one word. An accumulation of tasks challenges the performer to sustain a temporary structure, which gradually fractures and unravels. The work moves between void and actuality, impulse and humanity, potential and loss. Step by step, a personal attempt to touch the human — a visible trap.

Choreography: Michael Getman

Performance: Ariel Galbert

Dramaturgy: Yael Venezia

Lighting Design: Nadav Barnea | Lighting Operator: Lior Levin

Costume Design: Omri Albo

Original Sound: Gal Hochberg, Michael Getman

Stage Manager: Michal Ben Bassat

Branding & Media: Laetitia Boulud

Production: Shalom Gil

International Relations: Gloria De Angeli

Photos: Asya Skorik, Paolo Porto, Umberto Dolcini

Michael Getman is the son of Dora Caroline and Zecharia Getman, who immigrated to Israel from Soviet Leningrad following the failed airplane hijacking attempt by Jewish dissidents in 1970, known as “Operation Wedding.” Multiple points of view characterize his choreographic work, exploring the relationships among action, movement, expression, and language, as well as the body’s responses to extreme states and the resonance of historical, cultural, and poetic contexts. Getman teaches and leads workshops and masterclasses in Israel and internationally. He began his training at the Bat-Dor Dance School under the direction of Ms. Jeannette Ordman, and later performed with the Batsheva Dance Company and Ballet Freiburg, Pretty Ugly. He holds an M.A. from the University of Huddersfield, England.

Michael Getman