Techniques from Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company infuse ‘Harawi,’ opera premiering in U.S. at UC Berkeley

Cal Performances’ 2024-25 season opens Sept. 27 with the U.S. premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s “Harawi,” an American Modern Opera Company production featuring star soprano and Cal Performances artist-in-residence Julia Bullock and pianist Conor Hanick. More than a musical presentation, Messiaen’s 1945 song cycle serves as muse for Or Schraiber and Bobbi Jene Smith, two dancers and choreographers who met and fell in love as members of Batsheva.