The Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company has enough talent to warrant being labeled one of today’s finest performance groups. What began as a small troupe of Israeli dancers from the Regional Western Galilee Dance Group in 1970 has grown to be a renowned dance company consisting of 22 dancers and one esteemed artistic director.

Founded more than 30 years ago by Yehudit Arnon, the company performs throughout Israel and internationally for audiences of all ages. Not only has the group received several distinguished awards, but artistic director Rami Be’er is also the recipient of the 1999 Israeli Ministry of Arts and Culture award for best creative artist.

The group, which takes the name Israeli Contemporary Dance Company while in the United States, tours all over the world and shows more than 100 performances each year. This Friday night they will perform Be’er’s 2002 piece, “Screensaver,” at the Wisconsin Union Theater.

Be’er creates his pieces with human nature and spirit in mind. Through his lighting design, use of space, video images, text, props and costumes, the artistic director creates a unit within the dancers’ bodies and souls, using a whole world for a stage. The 70-minute piece, to be shown without an intermission, relates to the times we live in and the different tools we use.

“The name ‘Screensaver’ is from the world of a computer. It protects the computer, and in a way, I believe that each one of us has our own screensaver that we put on,” Be’er said. “The piece makes a different circle in human lives, a circle that relates to the individual. It is felt — the relationship between the couple, the group in society and the individual in society.”

Be’er uses sounds ranging from baroque to contemporary music. His choreography comes from the exploration of different ways one can move, from classical ballet to modern dance. Compositionally, “Screensaver” is a unique study of the body.

The elements of “Screensaver” are all connected to create one theme — a message against violence, against racism and about harmony. “I don’t tell a story, but I offer that each dance can be interpreted as one sees, through his own memories, his own thoughts, and his own feeling,” Be’er said.

“I give an option to each spectator to connect dance to himself through his experience,” said Be’er. “It’s more interesting to him. It can touch him in a way that he can carry the performance with him when he leaves the theater.”

Israeli Contemporary Dance Company will present “Screensaver” Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Union Theater Box Office and are $10 for students.

For more information on the Kibbutz Dance Company, visit www.kcdc.co.il/