Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Israeli Folk Dancing in Dublin, Ireland


The Tel Aviv University Dance Company put on a performance of Israeli Folk Dancing in Dublin, Ireland on April 29, 2015. An added bonus is the dancing in the aisles by the Irish audience six minutes in!

The event was organized by Israel's Deputy Ambassador Nurit Tinari-Modai to mark Israel's 67th Independence day. Nurit can be seen at work 7 minutes 42 seconds into the video.


The choreographer was Shlomo Maman and the producer Ronen Tin. Viewers will notice that the Israeli dancers perform in their bare feet. This is to signify that the Israeli folk dance tradition is rooted in the earth. The opening dance is the Hora medley "A State is Born". It was brought from Romania by early Jewish pioneers during the pre-state period. 


The Hora came to symbolize their socialist ideology - its closed circle form gave equal status to all participants and its simple movement enabled everyone to take part.

According to Ronen Tin, folk dancing is hugely popular in Israel with over 350,000 people taking part in a major folk dancing competition every year.


Ambassador Boaz Modai and Deputy Ambassador Nurit Tinari-Modai, joined the Tel Aviv University Dance Company and violinist Alex Bronsky on stage after their performance.

Enjoy!


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.

1 comment:

  1. This was wonderful! Thank you so much! (Serious question for anyone here interested in Israeli-Irish relations: is Guinness kosher? Star-K says Approved; Mi Yodeya seems to say not because of "isinglass" a fish substance used to filter the beer. Am I misinterpreting this?)

    ReplyDelete