Soof Nikritin
Soof Nikritin (musician) - born in 1993, lives and creates in the artist village of Ein Hod on the Carmel beach. Nikritin is a composer and double bass player, who studied at the Higher Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem in the Oriental Department and the Classical Department. As part of his studies, he also played in the symphony orchestra named after Mandy Roden.
Nikritin has been a member of the folk-soul band Hayelala since its inception in 2012, with which he also performed at various festivals in Israel and in Italy, Germany, Poland, Thailand, Slovenia and more. In addition, he is a member of the bands 'Yanokies Taverna' which plays Greek music, and in the band TheAngelcy with whom he has been playing for about three years. Nikritin also plays and arranges music in ensembles and with various artists.
In recent years, Nikritin began creating original music under his own name through multidisciplinary collaborations with artists from the fields of dance and media, like Natalie Afriat and Matan Portnoy. Nikritin just graduated MA in media music studies at the University of Chichester, England.
In March-April 2023 Soof was chosen to take part in residency at Düsseldorf Germany with Natalie Afriat. In November-December they returned to Dusseldorf to continue their artistic journey.
In May, 2024, Soof & Natalie has been invited for a residency and two performances in ARé Festival in Yerevan, Armenia.
Natalie Afriat
Natalie Afriat (choreography and performance) - choreographer, dancer and dance teacher, born in 1988, lives and creates in the artists village Ein-Hod, Israel. Graduated from the Jerusalem Higher Academy of Music and Dance with honors (2015), and the dancer training workshop in Gaaton.
She has presented and created dance works at festivals: Machol Shalem International Dance Week (2019), Jerusalem Biennial (2019), Chamber Dance Festival (2016), Sheikh Abrik Festival (2018), Nanodance Microfest (2015) and more.
In her works she explores collaborations with different artists such as photographers, musicians and video artists. As a dancer she worked with the choreographers Anat Shamgar together with the ensemble Nofim Hatzoim (Divided landscapes), Maayan Liebman-Sharon, Reut Gaz-wang and more.
MA graduate from the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Haifa. In March-April 2023 she was chosen to take part in residency in Düsseldorf Germany with Soof Nikritin.
In November-December they returned to Dusseldorf to continue their artistic journey.
In May, 2024, Soof & Natalie has been invited for a residency and two performances in ARé Festival in Yerevan, Armenia.