Ze'eva Cohen Creating A Life In Dance
a documentary film
Sharon Kaufman Director, Co-Producer, Editor
Ze'eva Cohen Co-Producer
Award winning television and video editor Sharon Kaufman makes her directorial debut with the legacy project Ze'eva Cohen Creating A Life In Dance - a model of how an artist can survive in the dance world by carving out an independent path for herself. The half-hour documentary, as narrated by Ze’eva Cohen, demonstrates the transformation and evolution of an artist over seven decades, showing how life and art constantly intersect. Through restored archival film and stunning professional photos, Kaufman constructs a documentary that captures the cultural and stylistic diversity, originality, honesty, and pure beauty of Cohen’s work. We see Cohen creating a rich life from her roots as a young dancer in her native Israel to building a unique and prolific career in the U.S. as solo dance artist, choreographer, and innovative dance educator at Princeton University, where she founded and directed the dance program for four decades (1969-2009). The film’s message of renewal and resourcefulness throughout a long career can benefit future generations of dancers and non-dancers for pursuing and sustaining a creative life.
The documentary received its world premiere at the Dance on Camera Film Festival at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater in February 2015, followed by its west coast premiere at the Dance Camera West Dance Media Film Festival at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles in May 2015.
Disc 1 includes the half-hour documentary, followed by the 28 minute Passing It On: Four Princeton Alumni Look Back - conversations with Jose Mateo '74 (Jose Mateo Dance Theatre), David Rosseve '81 (David Rosseve/REALITY), Jill Sigman '89 *98 (jill sigma/thinkdance), and Mariah Steele '06 (Quicksilver Dance), who reflect on Ze'eva's teaching and profound influence on them and their subsequent careers as dancers and choreographers.
Disc 2, Five Complete Works, features Negotiations (1996), If Eve Had A Daughter: Mother's Tongue/I Love You (1996), Ariadne (1985), Rainwood (1977), and Mother's of Israel (1975) - a few of the full length iconic representations of Ze'eva's 40-year career.
Watch Ze’eva Cohen Creating A Life in Dance here:
vimeo.com/198375268
Watch Passing It On: Four Princeton Alumni Look Back here:
vimeo.com/198369571
Ze'eva Cohen and Sharon Kaufman are available for screening
and speaking engagements upon request.
Featured Screenings:
Premiere: Dance On Camera Film Festival NY - Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater, Feb. 3, 2015
West Coast Premiere: Dance Camera West - Museum of Contemporary Art LA, May 3, 2015
The Dance Library of Israel, A lecture with excerpts from the film sponsored by The Israel Society For Dance Research. Beit Ariela, Tel Aviv Israel. Feb. 16, 2015.
Princeton University, J.M. Stewart Theater, Including a panel discussion on the role of dance in higher education. March 12, 2015.
Berkshire Pulse Studios. Housatonic, MA. Nov 21, 2015.
Dance MN as part of Petri Dish: Screen. January 8, 2016.
Gustavas Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN. May 5, 2016.