Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Hava Nagila Is Musical Choice of German Synchronized Ice Skating Dream Team


When the 16 ice skaters who comprise the synchronized ice skating Dream Team from Germany's Lower Saxony province stepped onto the ice in a competition in 2009, what song do you think they chose to skate and dance to? If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you've probably guessed it already. Of course, it's Hava Nagila, the song that has been performed all over the world in the most unusual places. (and we've got many more to share with you in the months to come). 

And we thought we'd have to wait for Moshiach to come before seeing something like this.

So enjoy the six minute skating routine, which starts with Shema Yisrael before moving into Hava Nagila. If you look carefully at the dozen or so flags at one end of the arena (at around 5 minutes into the performance) you'll see the Israeli flag among them.

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.) 

3 comments:

  1. I liked the little swerve into "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicci in there. Wild.

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  2. The opening vocals on the soundtrack are the words to "Shema Yisrael". If you thought Germans ice-skating to Hava Nagila is strange, what do you make of incorporating the Shema into a dance routine?

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  3. This version of Hava Nagila is from an album titled "L'Chaim - To Life - The Ultimate Jewish Music Collection" by Stanley Black and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Shema Yisrael isn't listed. It's just the opening few bars of the arrangement of Hava Nagila. It's a good recording and it's available on iTunes and Amazon.com. As to using the Shema in a dance routine, I'm reminded of a great LP record called Chassidisco Fever that came out after Saturday Night Fever was popular. It had a vibrant, hard driving version of Shema Yisrael sung by Ricki Gal.

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