Weil Family Foundation and Batsheva Dance Company
“Robert Weil is one of a kind. Each year in our 25 years of acquaintance, reinforces how honored the Batsheva Dance Company and I for having won a true friend who is always there for us, with his wisdom, love and generosity.” Ohad Naharin
Batsheva Dance company congratulates Robert Weil for the awarding of Stockholm University’s large gold medal (2023). The Batsheva Dance Company and the Weil Family Foundation have a long-standing partnership and friendship. The Weil Foundation generously supports the Company and in particular the well-being of the company’s dancers since 1995.
A bit of history: In 1992, Robert Weil and Ohad Naharin met while Ohad was in Sweden creating a piece for the eminent Cullberg Ballet. The connection between the two was immediate. When Weil asked Naharin in 1995 what his dream was, Naharin replied that he wanted Batsheva to be the best company in the world and for that he needed the best dancers in the world. And so it was. Ever since, the Weil Family Foundation regularly supports the salaries of Batsheva dancers, a support that has strengthened the company’s uncompromising quality and made it one of the leading dance companies in the world.
For the Batsheva Dance Company, the Weil Family Foundation embodies not only a significant and loyal partner, but a role model of intelligent and deep philanthropy that sees artistic practice in general and dance in particular, a catalyst of extreme importance in improving the fabric of life in social, educational and civic aspects.
From the University’s statement by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Astrid Söderbergh Widding:
“It is for his vision of the university, its inalienable role in the world surrounding academia, and its crucial contribution to the development of society at large, that he is awarded this medal.
Over the years, Robert Weil has also made himself known as a fearless and combative debater, standing up for humanistic values. He criticizes companies that fall short of facing the problems of the future. He emphasizes the responsibility of capital owners for the future of society. He highlights the need for the humanities and arts to put a one-sided focus on profit into perspective. Not least, he condemns all politics, regardless of color, that are cowards for antidemocratic currents in society. It is here that he sees one of the university’s main tasks as a counterweight, to further knowledge, education, as well as free and critical thinking. Robert Weil’s insights never remain theoretical afterthoughts – he puts them into concrete actions. He is an invaluable collaborator for a university that strives to realize these ideals.”