In the past, I was never interested in birds. My interest began in 2019 after I read an article about the annihilation of the songbirds in Israel. Because the subject of extinction and climate change grips me, the article touched my heart. 

As a choreographer, the birds attract me and inspire a great curiosity in me from a movement and spatial perspective. I learned to recognize their calls- the Titmouse, the Blackbird, the Hoopoe and the Honey-sucker, for whom we planted bushes in our garden whose blossoms produce nectar they like to drink. 

I started to follow the changes in the seasons throughout the year, for example, the mating season in which they begin to sing; I learned to differentiate between the males and females and tracked the appearance of each new bird. I completely fell in love with birds. 

The main reason for the disappearance of birds is the urban lifestyle in which the overcrowding of humans takes place in natural environments. The city requires the use of electricity, the establishment of roads and as such, there is less room for animals and birds. We can add infrastructures that are particularly harmful to birds- electrical wires, electrical polls and windmills.

I want to raise the audience’s awareness to the danger of extinction that exists for many species of birds and to make them listen to those birds’ songs.

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Choreography: Maayan Liebman-Sharon

Creative dancer, Co-creator: Natalie Afriat.

Original collaborator and dancer: Maya Popova. 

Original Music: Boaz Bentur

Costume: Yarden Peikin

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The piece was made as part of the Jerusalem Exchange program between Machol Shalem Dance House and Zagreb Dance Center in Zagreb, Croatia, February 2020.