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Dance in Israel incorporates a wide variety of dance styles, from traditionalIsraeli folk dancing toballet,modern dance,ballroom dancing andflamenco.
Contemporary dance in Israel has won international acclaim. Israeli choreographers, among themOhad Naharin andBarak Marshall are considered among the most versatile and original international creators working today.[2]
People come from all over Israel and many other nations for the annual dance festival inKarmiel, held in July. First held in 1987, the Karmiel Dance Festival is the largest celebration of dance in Israel, featuring three or four days and nights of dancing with 5,000 or more dancers and a quarter of a million spectators in the capital of theGalilee.[3][4] Begun as an Israeli folk dance event, the festivities now include performances, workshops, and open dance sessions for a variety of dance forms and nationalities.[5] Choreographer Yonatan Karmon created the Karmiel Dance Festival to continue the tradition ofGurit Kadman'sDalia Festival of Israeli dance, which ended in the 1960s.[6][7]
Famous companies and choreographers from all over the world have come to Israel to perform and givemaster classes. In July 2010,Mikhail Baryshnikov came to perform in Israel.[8]
Israeli folk dancing includes folk dances such as theHorah and dances that incorporate theTza’ad Temani. Israeli folk dance also includesDabke which is a Middle Eastern dance of theLevant region (Israel, Lebanon, Syria) and is a common dance done by mainly the Arab population of Israel however is a most popular dance among Israeli youth. InHebrew Dabke is known asדבקה "Dabka" which comes from the Arabic term meaning "stomping of feet". The Dance is well suited for bringing Israel-Arab culture together.[9][10]
One of the pioneers of modern dance in Israel wasGertrud Kraus, who immigrated toMandate Palestine in 1935 and formed a modern dance company affiliated with the Tel Aviv Folk Opera.[11] In 1950–1951, she founded the Israel Ballet Theatre, and became its artistic director.[11] Contemporary dance in Israel is influenced by Israeli folk dance and European traditions. Dance companies include the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company,Inbal Dance Theater,Vertigo Dance Company,Bat-Dor Dance Company andBatsheva Dance Company.
In 2010, Silvia Duran, an Israeliflamenco dancer, was honored by KingJuan Carlos I of Spain for training generations of flamenco dancers at her studio inTel Aviv, The citation was awarded for her "contribution to the culture of Spain and the Spanish people.[12]
TheKarmiel Dance Festival has been a yearly event since 1987. The festival is usually held for 3 days and nights in July, and includes dance performances, workshops, and open dance sessions.[13] The festival began as a celebration of Israeli folk dance, but today it features many different dance troupes, attracting thousands of dancers and hundreds of thousands of spectators from Israel and overseas.[14] During the festival there are two major competitions: the Eyal ben Yehoshua choreography competition and a folk dance competition in memory of dancer Asheri Hever.[15]
TheBatsheva Dance Company is an internationally acclaimed dance company based inTel Aviv.[16] It was founded byMartha Graham andBaroness Batsheva De Rothschild in 1964. From its inception until 1979, the prima ballerina of Batsheva wasRina Schenfeld; she and Rena Gluck were the company's principal dancers for many years.[17]Ohad Naharin has been artistic director since 1990.
TheBat-Dor Dance Company was an Israeli dance company co-founded by BaronessBatsheva de Rothschild and dancer Jeannette Ordman.[18] Bat Dor made its debut in 1968 with Ordman as its leading dancer. The company existed until July 2006.[19]
TheInbal Dance Theater focuses on the dance of ethnic communities in Israel, among themYemenite Jews,Moroccan Jews,Iranian Jews andKurdish Jews. The group is known for incorporating biblical themes and an ancient dance language into modern dance moves.[20] The group was founded in 1949 bySara Levi-Tanai, Jerusalem-born of a Yemenite family.[21]
TheKibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, based inKibbutz Ga'aton,[22] participates in some 200 performances a year in Israel and overseas.[23]
The Rina Schoenfeld Dance Theater, founded in 1978, developed an eclectic blend ofBauhaus ideology, theater, modern dance and ballet which used physical objects to "guide the imagination to places beyond dance."[24]
TheIsrael Ballet, which performs classical and neo-classical ballets, was founded in 1967 by Berta Yampolsky and Hillel Markman. In 1975, the troupe performedGeorge Balanchine's Serenade, bringing the company international acclaim. After watching a performance in New York, Balanchine granted the Israel Ballet permission to perform his works free of charge.[25]
The Adama Dance Company, established by Liat Dror and Nir Ben Gal, is based inMitzpe Ramon. The company has seven dancers and runs a children's dance school.[26]
Tel Aviv's center for modern and classical dance is theSuzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater inNeve Tzedek.[27]
TheEshkol-Wachman Movement Notation is a notation system for recording movement on paper or computer screen created in Israel by dance theorist Noa Eshkol and Avraham Wachman, a professor of architecture at theTechnion.[28] The system is used in many fields, includingdance,physical therapy, animal behavior and early diagnosis ofautism.[28]
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