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Movement is often unthinking, natural – an automatic part of life. But for Israeli dance troupe Batsheva, movement has become an art.

In a UCLA Live event this weekend, the Batsheva Dance Company will be performing “Three,” choreographed by world-renowned artistic director Ohad Naharin in Royce Hall.

Batsheva Dance Company, founded in 1964 by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva De Rothschild, has been a global influence on creative liberty. Naharin has helped the dance troupe become one of the world’s trendsetters.

“Through movement, I can achieve things – the love of composition, the different textures, and communication with my dancers,” Naharin said.

“(I give) the keys to be at their best and use their explosive power, sensuality, madness, weakness and generosity; all the things that must be part of the creative process.”

What specifically gives Batsheva its unprecedented movements is Gaga – Naharin’s own training in movement.

“We try to maximize our ability by getting in touch with our atrophy that everyone has in their body, and go beyond our familiar limits that we find and recognize our movement habits and acquire new ones,” said Naharin. “There are limitations, but you can always push the borders.”

This training is the launching pad for the experience that Naharin and Batsheva hope for.

It has much to do with provoking imagination and the audience’s ability to open its mind to the organics of dance and the many messages being shared.

“I think experiencing not just my work but someone (else’s) work has to do with the power of imagination and the force of creativity and the source of joy,” said Naharin. “I hope that (the audience) engages in a place where their vocabulary is a lot smaller than their imagination so I can communicate (to them) that place where there is a sense of vast possibilities.”

“Three,” a one hour and ten minute piece, contains three separate sections: “Bellus,” which means beauty, “Humus,” which translates to Earth, and “Secus,” which means both “this” and “not this” in Hebrew.

“Each work has its own soul,” Naharin said. “Each work can be on its own, but somehow they’re together because they were created for the same people in my company and in the same period of my life.”

The first section, “Bellus,” is choreographed for ten dancers to Glenn Gould’s recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

It explores the stillness and bareness found between the notes, and in that silence is where the dancers’ movements and passion for dance becomes present.

“It explores the efficiency of movement, it explores exaggeration, it explores the connection between effort and pleasure,” Naharin said. “There is always a human-conscious kind of value at every moment.”

To that end, the section explores a palpable, physical representation of humor.

“It’s the story about the ability to laugh at ourselves, but it’s not like joking or joke-telling,” Naharin said. “(It’s) the kind of laugh that comes out from being tickled.”

“Humus,” the second section, is exclusively performed by the women of the company. Its minimalist music by Brian Eno establishes the uniformity of the segment.

The performance’s multiple structured segments and the lack of percussions responds to the freeness of movement in the first section.

The last section, “Secus,” includes all members of the company.

Boundaries of passion, force and speed are what defines this section. But these elements cannot truly be expressed without its eclectic musical accompaniment.

The array of songs, including works by The Beach Boys and Chari Chari, gives the last section its unique flavor.

With so many moods and actions, Batsheva’s performance is sure to offer something for everyone – if not the same thing.

“What I like most about watching dance is the passion and how each performance can carry a different meaning for each person,” said second-year business economics student Jacqueline Jung. “From what I’ve seen from Batsheva, I believe that they epitomize true passion and uniqueness with their surprising style and collection of music.”