A contemporary Israeli duet, Capsule is an intimate work with an outstanding performance which combines the most abstract concepts of identity, self, relationships, community and beliefs.

Performed by Oded Ronen - who is also the choregrapher - and Ligal Melamed, it was the first in a series of activities for the maiden Israel-Ghana Week of Dance Bridges, organised by the Embassy of Israel and the Dance Department of the University of Ghana.

In today's chaotic world, Capsule is a very relevant piece as it throws light on the essence of peace and how nonviolent co-existence ensures the survival of humanity.

Even though it was a dance production, it painted a telling picture of the process of peace building and how people cannot live successfully without support from others.

Capsule drives home the point that the world will not be a happy place for anyone if people didn’t belong to a home, family, country or political parties.

Oded Ronen and Ligal Melamed in action
Explaining the concept to Graphic Showbiz later, Oded Ronen said Capsule, first performed at the Tmuna International Festival in Israel in 2017, explains how people use capsules (medicine) to cure their illnesses and the need for humans to exist interdependently to soothe each other’s pains and sorrows.

“A world where you eat alone, sleep alone, age alone, get sick alone, and where no one has your back is obviously not one that we seek and that is why Capsule advocates that we come together to build the world and make it a better place,” he said.

The Israeli Embassy hopes to create an atmosphere of commonalities between Israeli and Ghanaian culture, hence, the institution of the dance week which captures four major dance activities.

An Israeli-Ghanaian Dance Workshop was held on Tuesday, March 12 and explored traditions through the art of dance, a learning experience of traditional Israeli folklore dance and its origins.

A Dance Film Screening on Thursday, March 14 will examine the interrelation between two phenomena of 20th century modern dance especially German modern dance and Zionism, the evolution of the Israeli society.

The Week of Dance Bridges will be climaxed on Saturday, March 16, and it is a joint project between the Israeli choreographer, Oded Ronen and various Ghanaian dance groups.

Various individuals and groups from Israel and Ghana are participating in the Week of Dance Bridges and include Oded Ronen, Ligal Melamed, Ofer Lachish, the University of Ghana Dance Department, Chen Laimer, National Dance Company, Ghana Dance Ensemble, the Great Africa Heritage Dance Ensemble and Nii Tetty Lebno Tetteh and the Kusun Ensemble.

Lead choreographer, Oded Ronen has performed with many Dance companies including Cedece Dance Company (Portugal) and Kolben Dance Company and Fesco Dabce Company both from Israel.

He has also created pieces for the Jerusalem Ballet, Bloomfield Science Museum, IntimaDance Festival, Kolben Dance Company and Humans in Motion (all in Israel).