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At a time when many international dance companies have canceled planned visits to Israel, the arrival of New York\u2019s Peridance Contemporary Dance Company carries particular significance. The ensemble will tour from June 29 to July 5 with performances in Haifa<\/a>, Herzliya, and Jerusalem, becoming one of the first international contemporary companies to return to Israeli stages since the outbreak of the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alongside a varied repertory and 14 virtuosic dancers, the visit offers Israeli audiences a rare window into the artistic world of choreographer and Peridance founder Igal Perry.<\/p>\n Speaking over the phone from New York as the company prepared for the tour, Perry acknowledged that bringing the ensemble to Israel at this moment was not an obvious decision \u2013 but, in his view, an essential one.<\/p>\n \u201cThe dancers understand the situation, and they still want to come,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is no other way for them to truly grasp where I come from unless they experience it here.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the dancers trained at the Peridance Center in New York or studied under Perry at institutions such as The Juilliard School. For them, the tour is not only a professional engagement but also an encounter with the cultural and biographical roots of their artistic director.<\/p>\n Peridance Contemporary Dance Company has been a steady presence in the New York dance scene for four decades. Founded in 1984, it made its debut the following year, and has never stopped \u2013 appearing at major venues, including The Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, touring extensively across the United States, Europe, and Asia.<\/p>\n Its work has drawn consistent critical attention. The New York Times praised its choreography for \u201cextraordinary originality leading to emotional heights,\u201d while The Village Voice described its programs as a striking blend of lightness and drama.\u00a0<\/p>\n While his name is now firmly rooted in the New York contemporary dance scene, Perry\u2019s journey actually began in Tiberias. As a young boy, he first encountered dance through a youth folk-dance troupe, led by a dancer from the Karmon Dance Company, which was widely credited with propelling Israeli folk dance onto international stages throughout the 1960s and 1970s.<\/p>\n A gifted student, Perry finished high school unusually early, at age 16. He wanted to become a doctor, and was accepted to study medicine at the Hebrew University,<\/a> but was told he was too young. Finding himself without a plan, and driven by his deep love for dance, he decided to audition for the Karmon company. He was accepted, intending to dance purely for the time being.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, he toured internationally with Karmon, including performances in the United States and South Africa, which opened an early window into the possibilities of a life defined by movement.<\/p>\n \u201cI stayed in the world of dance, and I don\u2019t regret it,\u201d he said, smiling.<\/p>\n Later, after dancing with Bat-Dor Dance Company and other Israeli ensembles, Perry moved to New York. In 1983, he founded the Peridance Center in Manhattan, which grew into one of the city\u2019s largest and most international dance academies. A year later, he established the company itself \u2013 a repertory ensemble built on an evolving body of work.<\/p>\n A platform for multiple artistic languages\u00a0<\/p>\n UNLIKE COMPANIES anchored in a single choreographic voice, Peridance operates as a platform for multiple artistic languages. \u201cI strive to weave a tapestry of works that starkly contrast with one another,\u201d Perry explained.<\/p>\n This approach demanded versatility. Dancers must shift physical languages, energy systems, and emotional states from one work to the next, often within a single evening. The Israel program reflects this principle through five distinct works.<\/p>\nPERIDANCE CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY performs. (credit: RACHEL NEVILLE)<\/p>\n