The MGSDII was proud to host Shahar Biniamini, visiting Israeli choreographer, as he taught three master classes at CSUSM.

Biniamini was born in 1988 in Lod, Israel. He danced in Batsheva Ensemble from 2006-2008 and in Batsheva Dance Company from 2008-2013. Today, as an independent dancer and artist, Shachar creates artworks and dance works, shown in theaters and galleries all over the world. He is also a Gaga instructor, an assistant to Ohad Naharin, and teaches his works abroad. To view more photographs from the classes, please click here.

Hear what students had to say:

What stuck out to me from the movement experience with Shahar Binyamini was how freeing it was. At first, many of the students including me felt extremely uncomfortable and tense. But, I started to become more comfortable in my body and tried not to think too much. By the end of the class, everyone was shamelessly, freely moving in their own world. I thought that was a major breakthrough. The GAGA technique was used to cultivate self-awareness through body movements. To me, this brought awareness to how flexible and spontaneous I can actually be once I stop listening to my head and start listening to my body. 

My experience with Shahar Binyamini was exquisite. It was definitely not what I had expected. The movements that he directed us to do was very different from what I have experienced. I learned a bit more of what self-awareness is other than what you have led me to learn! The movements I made, were very natural and flowed just perfectly. I used to believe that it was almost impossible for my body to catch rhythm without the help of music. But Shahar lead me to believe differently, my body found its own rhythms and movements. My body was moving with passion!