Avi Yona Bueno, also known as Bambi, began his career as a lighting designer for rock concerts. He has designed shows for leading Israeli singers and bands including Ofra Haza and Rita as well as for international stars including Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, and Chick Corea. In the 1980s, Bambi moved to London, where he worked for the Pink Floyd lighting company and Britannia Row Productions. He also designed the lighting for Meatloaf and toured Europe with popular artists including The Cure, The Commodores, and the Thompson Twins.
Upon his return to Israel, Bambi began designing for the theater. He worked with prestigious repertory theaters such as the Cameri Theatre and the Habima National Theatre as well as fringe and experimental theater productions. Bambi currently serves as the resident lighting designer for the Gesher Theatre and the avant-garde Itim Theatre Ensemble, founded by Rina Yerushalmi. He has been widely acclaimed for his impact on the field of lighting design in theater and has been honored with numerous awards including the 1995 Moshe Halevi Tel Aviv Prize for transforming lighting design in Israel into an art form. In 2011 Bambi received the Theatre Award for Best Lighting category fo Gesher Theatre’s production of “Six Characters in Search of an Author.”
In 1992, Bambi began designing for dance. At Batsheva Dance Company, where he is Resident Lighting Designer, he has designed lighting for all of Ohad Naharin’s works. He has also designed for Sharon Eyal’s Love, Quiet Village, Bertolina, and Makarova Kabisa. In addition to his role in Batsheva, Bambi has designed for renowned international dance companies such as the Cullberg Ballet, Carte Blanche, Nederlans Dans Theater, Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Bambi’s lighting has also illuminated numerous operas, musicals, stadium productions, television productions, museum installations, and architectural projects, as well as the Israeli Opera productions in Masada – ‘Nabucco’ (2010) and ‘Aida’ (2011). He is in the process of developing his Tel Aviv studio for creating lighting installations.
Photo by Shai Shachar
Ascaf, House Photographer
Ascaf, artist and photographer, was born in Israel in 1976. At the age of three he emigrated with his family to Mexico and returned to Israel at the age of 21. His split identity, a direct result of living in two very different lifestyles, opened him up to many journeys around the world and exposed him to countless fascinating cultures. Graduated MTA in Industrial Design and MTA in Photography. In the past decade he focus on the dance scene in Israel and work with most of the choreographers and companies such as Maria Kong, Sharon Eyal, Dana Ruttenberg, Roee Assaf, DanceTheater Or & Oran, Niv & Oren, Curtain Up Festival, Intima Dance Festival, Pina Bausch Dance Company and more. Today works as Batsheva Dance Company’s house photographer. Photographer of Dance, People, Studio, Nature and Journeys, Works from his studio in Tel Aviv. www.ascaf.net
Photo by Roee Dori
Eri Nakamura, Costume Design
Eri Nakamura was born in Japan in 1984. In 2002 she graduated from The Australian Ballet School in Melbourne. During the years 2003-2007 she danced with Victor Ullate Ballet Company in Madrid and later, from 2007 to 2008, with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal in Canada, under the artistic direction of Gradimir Pankov. Eri Danced with Batsheva between 2011-2015 and designed the costumes for “Last Work” (2015), “And Still” by Danielle Agami (2015), “Yag” (2016) “Venezuela” (2017), “2019” (2019) and “MOMO” (2022).
Photo by Ascaf
Roee Shalti, Filmmaker and Editor
Director, film and video editor since 2010.
Has a special connection to the world of dance, on a professional and personal level.
Roee investigates the world of movement and dance through the lens of the camera, and in recent years has been experimenting with cracking codes that will make the work of dance accessible to viewers, of which the stage is its natural and familiar place, through video.
Photo by Ascaf
Creative Partner, Ariel Cohen
Ariel Cohen is a performer, performance creator, and visual artist. He danced with The Batsheva Ensemble and created works for Intimidance and Curtain Up. For almost a decade, Cohen has been collaborating with Ohad Naharin, and was involved in the creation of “Sadeh21 (2011) and “The Hole” (2013) (for which he also designed the costumes), “Last Work” (2015), “Venezuela” (2017), “2019″ (2019), he was co-creator in “MOMO” (2021) and Assistant to Costume Designer in “Anafaza 2023”.
Cohen attended Rakefet Levy’s Design School for Performing Arts and took part in various fashion and styling projects. He joined Batsheva Dance Company as a dancer in the 2013-2014 season. Before Batsheva, he danced with different companies throughout Europe. His work is versatile, and as an artist he often explores movement and its extensive range of iterations and manifestations in the arts. Over the years he has experimented with different movement methods – classical ballet, modern ballet, contemporary dance, stage art, performance and more. Since 2009 he has been creating working as an independent choreographer and collaborating with various artists, including Osnat Kellner, Shani Granot, Nevo Romano and more.
