Display Case is an interdisciplinary performance by Ben Green and Ohad Mazor, dancers, choreographers, former members of the acclaimed Batsheva Dance Company, and life partners. Drawing on their personal and professional partnership, Display Case delves into themes of queerness, marriage, grief, language and migration, using the performing body as a “case study”.

A rose bush rises from a mound of dirt. It stands at the center of the room insulated inside a glass terrarium, wheeled around, watered, nurtured and mourned. This emblem of death is comprised of living artifacts, ripped away from their natural habitat, in an effort of preservation. Un-contextualized life fragments haunt the performance, echoing from outside a glass case the performance itself exists in. Inevitably, what begins in morgue-like confines spills out and onto the performers, altering them unrecognizably. The piece unfolds as a living artifact, questioning and experimenting with the ways in which the transient – be it human experience or natural beauty – is preserved and presented, mourned and iconized.

CREDITS

Created & Performed by: Ben Green and Ohad Mazor
Sculpture / Set Design: Meredith Wheeler of Secret Flowers

Music:
"Piano on Tape" by Christina Vantanzou, Michael Harrison, John Also Bennet
"Blue Moon" by Elvis Presley
"Groovy" by JMSN
"Entrance March" by Mushio Funazawa
"Abendlied Op. 85, No. 12" by Robert Shuman, Lucerne Festival Strings, Daniel Dodds
"Introduccion" by Nicolas Jaar
"Waving 2" by DM Stith
"ויהי בוקר" by Efrat Ben Zur

Original Text: Ben Green and Ohad Mazor

Special Thanks: Scott Putman, VCU Department of Dance & Choreography, The Branch Museum, Katie Foster, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Morgan Whitehead, Sharona Cantor, Jack Fox and Hannah Mayfield.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ben Green (they/he) is a choreographer and performance maker originally from Nevada. After performing with Batsheva Dance Company (Tel Aviv) for 7 years they began developing their own independent performance projects. They perform with P.OR.K under the direction of Marlene Monteiro Freitas. They have participated in residencies at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, New York and TanzFarm Art Residency, Michigan. In 2023, they were selected to participate in a workshop for theatre makers as part of the 2023 Venice Biennale Teatro College. They founded the performance collective HIND LEGS in 2023. Additionally, they are a certified Gaga teacher.

Ohad Mazor is a non-binary independent choreographer, performer, writer, Gaga teacher, and former member of Batsheva Dance Company (2016-2023). In their time in the company, Ohad took part in the original creations of 2019 and MOMO by Ohad Naharin and The Look by Sharon Eyal. Ohad's research lies at an intersection between dance, drag, and confession while dealing with themes of identity, grief, gender, and their politics through a hyper personal lens, be it through autobiography or cosplay. Their work has been presented by CCA: Tel Aviv-Yafo, Habait Theatre and Intimadance Festival 2023. Ohad serves as a guest teacher for Gibney Dance Company, SUNY Purchase College, and Mark Morris Dance Center. They write a personal Substack on gender and immigration, "The Emancipation of MeMe."

Secret Flowers is a floral design studio based out of Richmond, VA and run by Meredith Wheeler. With an aim to create a place “Where Springtime Lingers”, Secret Flowers exhibits a surreal and imaginative artistry to floral design. The set design for Display Case exudes that same concept, attempting to combat, stall, or preserve the ephemera of the natural world.

@CPR | Ben Green & Ohad Mazor: Display Case