May Zarhy is a freelance choreographer. Her work dwells in the gap between the concrete and the abstract - between functional, daily movements and ones that we could call ‘Dance’. Her choreographic, performative, and curatorial interventions question existing conceptualizations of liminality and bordering. She explores movement in relation to a space, which she sees as a landscape already inhabited by tensions, histories, and happenings. In this way, listening becomes a central practice in her movement and choreography practice, by which to explore and negotiate each other’s presence in an already dense space.
Zarhy is a graduate of Codarts in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (2006), and ex.er.ce choreography program directed by Xavier Le Roy and Mathilde Monnier in Montpellier, France (2007). During her studies she worked as William Forsythe’s assistant at the Forsythe Company (2005).
Later, Zarhy co-founded with Ioannis Mandafounis and Fabrice Mazliah the collaborative trio Mamaza (2009 - 2014), with whom she created and performed around the world. Since 2014, Zarhy has been creating stage works and participatory works in the public sphere, creating work at the intersection of choreography, performance and sound art. Between 2017-2020, she was curating and presenting her screening series Cinemay Choreographic Cinema at the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv, hosting artists such as Eszter Salamon, Youness Atbane, Germaine Acogny and others. Between 2021-23 she was director of the post-graduate choreography program in Kelim center Israel.
In parallel to her own choreographic work, she works as a dramaturg and rehearsal director for fellow artists such as: Adi Boutrous, Hermann Heisig, and others. Zarhy regularly leads professional classes and workshops for dancers, students and movement based practitioners in a variety of contexts. She has been teaching at Pro-Mornings professional classes in Suzanne Dellal Center, Moving Communities contemporary dance for people living with Parkinson’s Disease as Yasmeen Godder company, the School of Visual Theater Jerusalem, K3 Hamburg, and more. Zarhy is represented by Fauves Agency for the Performing Arts - Julia Danila & Léa Chalmont.
