Ofra Hoffman was
born and grew up in Israel. From an early age she was passionate about the arts
of the stage, and in particular: Theatre and dance.
She began her
theatre studies at the Art high school in Jerusalem, this was followed by
classical voice training.
During her studies she was introduced
to the art of Corporeal Mime, created by the great Master Etienne
Decroux. In 1991 she left Israel to follow her passion.
She traveled to Paris, France where
she studied between 1992-95 the art of Corporeal Mime from the last disciples
of Etienne Decroux, Mss. Corinne Soum and Mr. Steven Wasson,
at their school: L'ecole de Mime
Corporel Dramatique De Paris. She
continued her vocal studies with Mr. George Roiron. She also followed theatre
and body movement workshops. (To name few: Mr.Thomas Lebhart, Mr. Ivan
Baccioci and others.)
Her first encounter with the art of Bharatanatyam
was in Paris, she began her first steps with Shalini (disciple of M.K.Saroja and of Vidhya)
and then with Malavika (disciple of Guru K.G. Ellapa Mudaliar and of
Kalaimamani VS Muthuswami Pillai).
In order to continue her studies, Ofra
traveled to, Chennai, INDIA, and began sharing her life between three cities,
in three different continents- Chennai, Paris, and Tel Aviv. During her stay in Chennai in 2005 she was
introduced to one who will become her guru- Kalaimamani Kuttalam M.Selvam.
After several visits for intense
studies with him she receives in 2010 an ICCR (Indian Council for cultural Relations) scholarship
and moved to Chennai.
At the present time Ofra is studying
dance with her guru , Abhinaya (the narrative aspect of the dance) from Mrs .Bragha Bessel, and carnatic
vocal music from Mrs. Anuja Rajasimhan. She also trains in Nattuvangam
under her Guru.
(The art of conducting a classical Indian dance recital. The
studies of nattuvangam develops the understanding of the rhythm and tempo and
are very important for a deep understanding of the choreographic structure.)
In 2011 Ofra presented her Arangetram
,(The Arangetram is a ceremony that symbolize the passage from the state of a
student to a stat of a dancer. Hence this ceremony is an important stage for
the dancer and the Guru.
Along with her studies, Ofra performs
in Israel and abroad and continue her researchers in the field of creation. She
performs works inspired by the Indian dance, as well as traditional programs.
She takes the challenge to stimulate interest and curiosity about
Bharatanatyam, an unknown art in Israel, in the hearts of her audience. This
challenge brings her to cooperate with artist of different fields- musicians,
actors, and visual artists.
From the press:
...Ofra Hoffman
hypnotizes us with her grace and her perfect theatre acting. In her performance
she combines traditional choreographies and original creations. The devotion is
very present in her dance…...
Chantal
Ostorovitch, Jerusalem post, 2.1.2007,
Israel