Batsheva Dance Company

The Batsheva Dance Company (Hebrew: להקת בת שבע) is a renowned dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was founded by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva De Rothschild in 1964.

Batshva's inception was marked by Israel's growing interest in American modern dance, mainly Martha Graham and Anna Sokolow, and classes in Graham technique began being offered at the time. Some of these classes were taught by Rina Schenfeld and Rena Gluck, who were the company's principal dancers for many years. Bethsabee de Rothschild withdrew her funding in 1975, and the company began to gradually shed the Graham aesthetic that had dominated during the company's early years. It was during this transitional period that the company began to include the works of emerging Israeli choreographers into its repertory.