New York – July 2, 2024: Schloss Elmau, the award-winning destination spa resort and cultural hideaway in the Bavarian Alps, is bringing the revolutionary Gaga dance technique to Germany for the first time ever. The five-star resort is teaming up with Gaga inventor, Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, and his Artistic Director Saar Harari, to organize Gaga People Classes for guests at the resort in August 2024, as well as an exclusive “Gaga in the Alps” retreat with Ohad Naharin himself in March 2025.

Conceived by Naharin as a movement language designed to revive one's joy in dancing, Gaga seeks to create a connection between the body and emotions, stimulate the imagination, and help participants push beyond their own limits. The Gaga People Classes will take place from August 11-18, 2024, as part of the Schloss Elmau's “Fit and Active” program. During their stay, guests can take part in open Gaga People classes taught by Artistic Director Saar Harari in both the mornings and evenings.

The “Gaga in the Alps” retreat will take place from March 16-20, 2025 and will be led by Gaga creator Ohad Naharin himself, along with Saar Harari and other certified Gaga teachers. Guests can participate in Gaga People and Gaga Metodika Classes with Ohad Naharin, relax in one of the resort's six spas (options include spas designed exclusively for adults, as well as those open to families) or explore the pristine nature around Schloss Elmau. The program includes: four nights' accommodations; breakfast, lunch and dinner daily; participation in concerts and readings; use of the entire spa area, as well as participation in yoga classes and the “Fit & Active” program; and transfers to the train station.

No dance or Gaga experience is required to participate in any of the courses. The courses are held in English and are open to participants ages 16 and up. The Gaga People Classes in August 2024 will be included in the nightly room rate at Schloss Elmau, which starts at €525 per night, per person. The “Gaga in the Alps” retreat in March 2025 will be priced at €2,100 per person in a double room, and €2,400 per person in a single room.

For more information about Gaga at Schloss Elmau, please go to: https://www.schlosselmau.de/dance/gaga/.

ABOUT SCHLOSS ELMAU

Schloss Elmau, a 5-star superior resort in the Bavarian Alps, is nestled in a vast, pristine high valley between the Zugspitze and Karwendel mountains. Built in 1916, the refuge, a Leading Hotel of the World, was reopened in 2007 with subtle Japanese influences. With 115 rooms, five restaurants, a kids' club and an impressive bookshop, it offers a wide range of amenities. The Retreat, opened in 2015, comprises 47 suites, three restaurants, spas, a gym, and a yoga pavilion. With six spacious spas and pools for families or exclusively for adults, as well as summer and winter sports activities, Schloss Elmau offers something for everyone. The hotel is famous for its high-end cultural and music program.

ABOUT GAGA

Ohad Naharin began his career in choreography in 1980. In the 1990s, he was appointed director of the Batsheva dance school, which he ran until 2018, and where he developed Gaga as a form of movement. The idea was that even amateurs – not just professional dancers – should learn to find their own rhythm in dance classes. Naharin himself was only able to dance to a limited extent at times following an accident. This gave rise to the Gaga concept, in which everyone takes part according to their individual abilities. Movements do not follow a strict choreography; instead, the body strives to be fluidly in motion. The language of Gaga was born from the belief in the healing, dynamic, constantly changing power of movement.

Gaga is a new way to gain knowledge and self-awareness through the body. The aim of the movement language is not to form the body into specific figures, but to give it free rein from within, to improvise and to connect with it. The courses provide a framework for discovering and strengthening the body and increase flexibility and stamina while awakening sensory perception and imagination. The courses are led by Saar Harari, who has been teaching the Gaga technique since 2010 and has served as Gaga manager in North America since 2012. Saar has been dancing since he was a child and began practicing Gaga with choreographer Ohad Naharin in 1998. In 2003, he co-founded LeeSaar The Company, which presented his choreography internationally, and has since received numerous awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and grant awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Dance Project. Saar returned to Tel Aviv in 2017 and currently teaches classes, workshops and retreats around the globe as Artistic Director of Gaga.