Join Beit Ahavah and Congregation B’nai Israel for an intimate presentation of “Continuing Not to Die,” created, choreographed and performed by Michal Shahak—a long-time Jerusalem somatic trauma therapist bringing her personal creative exploration to the stage. Grounded in an intuitive embodied practice, her work invites the audience into a shared, accessible space of honest human expression.

“Continuing Not to Die” offers a deeply personal performance born out of the onset of the war, when Shahak experienced a profound sensory exile from her own body—a silent void where her movement and practice as a Body-Mind Centering practitioner temporarily vanished. Unable to mine material from physical movement, she turned toward poetry, text, and imagery to distill and choreograph a response to an overwhelming reality. The work reflects on the crumbling of shared values, common denominators, and social connective tissues in present-day Israel. The preoccupation with transitioning from living to existing, and the questions it raises, created a desire to give this feeling the right to exist—a dignified dying.

Through this artistic journey, the creative process itself becomes a sanctuary—a vital medium to give voice, form, and movement to the unspoken landscapes of loss and grief.

The piece was created in 2024 and refers to and dialogues with the legal rights of the dying. Original music composed by Maya Belsitzman. Artistic advice by Ayelet Ulman. Headshot photos by Wassilios Nikitakis. Performance photos Nino Herman.

The performance will be followed by a Q&A conversation with the artist and audience.

This performance is part of a weekend of additional workshops called "Moving Through: Reflections and Performance on Times of Crisis" with guest artist Michal Shahak, held at Congregation B’nai Israel, Northampton, Oct 28-Nov 1.

Co-sponsored by Congregation B'nai Israel, Beit Ahavah and Friends of Women of Vision. Generous funding by Jewish Federation of Western MA.