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April 6, 2007
Youth reflect the spirit of Israel
Dor Chadash will celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut with Vancouver community.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
"I think it's pretty important that everyone in Canada will
know about each one of them," said Omer Shaish of his fellow
performers in Dor Chadash, the Israeli group that's coming to Vancouver
for the community's annual Yom Ha'atzmaut concert at the Chan Centre
for the Performing Arts.
Shaish will be joined by Shir Biton, Vladimir Bleiberg, Sasha Griskov,
Liron Lev, Sharon Rosenbaum, Noa Ben Shoshan and pianist Daniel
Meron. Individually, these performers have already appeared in numerous
productions and national events, and sung on recordings and for
audiences worldwide. They are Israel's rising stars, coming from
the ranks of the TV show Israeli Idol and the Israel Defence
Forces (IDF) singing groups.
"We work with and we know the groups in the army," said
Eti Lam, one of the producers of Dor Chadash. "We know the
artists that are in the army groups and we just pick the best of
them."
While a few of Dor Chadash's members have performed with each other
before, said Lam, they have been brought together especially for
the event in Vancouver, which will be followed by smaller shows
in Edmonton and Winnipeg. Dor Chadash will be in Canada for six
days, including their flying time.
The show they will put on for Yom Ha'atzmaut will include well-known
Israeli songs, "songs that, usually, Jewish people know all
over the world and can identify ... and even sing with us,"
said Lam.
Vancouver audiences can expect a concert along the lines of that
put on by Kan Noladeti a few years ago. That group was also managed
by Lam and produced by music producer and performer Kiki Rothstein.
They work with many groups, but especially like to bring younger
performers to the Diaspora.
"We feel that it is representing us in the best way possible,"
said Lam, adding that the young artists bring something very pure
and nonpolitical, "just the spirit of the Israeli society."
And a hard-working, energetic spirit it is. Rosenbaum, 22, spoke
to the Independent at almost 1 a.m. her time, after finishing a
shift waitressing. She is a singer-songwriter who is currently working
on a recording of original material, in addition to performing with
Dor Chadash.
"I really enjoy working with other talented people and people
my age," she said. "All of us are more or less at the
same phase in our lives; other people in the group also write their
own material and perform [elsewhere] besides Dor Chadash. So, when
we come together, each one of us brings what he has to this group
and, together, it gives us good energy and vibes, so it's great."
Rosenbaum hopes that her next concert, after the Canadian shows,
will be of her own compositions. She said she feels both excited
and scared about this eventuality.
"It's very personal, it's very about me and what I feel and
what I felt, things I've been going through for past years and months,
so it's pretty exciting and I'm nervous, but I'm also expecting
it, of course, because it's going to be a breakthrough for me –
it's [the] first time I'm going to do that. It's good."
Rosenbaum said she has vacationed in Quebec and Montreal and has
performed in Toronto with the musical Like in a Movie, but this
will be her first trip to Western Canada and the timing is significant.
If she were in Israel this year for Yom Ha'atzmaut, which comes
right after Yom Hazikaron, the memorial day for Israeli soldiers
who have died, she said it would have been more intense than in
other times. In the war with Lebanon this past summer, people she
knows were injured, some were killed. It will be sad to be away
from home, which is Modi'in, said Rosenbaum, but being farther away
gives a person a broader perspective.
Shaish, 24, has also travelled a lot, and he shared with the Independent
a story about one of his many trips; one that defines his love of
performing.
"I think that one of the most exciting moments in my whole
life was when I was in Europe, while I was still in the army and
we had some performances in Europe, and I had a chance to sing a
song in Yiddish called 'Yiddishe Mame,' 'A Jewish Mother,'
and I dedicated it to a lady and she started crying.
"I think it was one of the most incredible moments in my whole
life," he continued. "I think, for me, that's singing,
that's performing – it's getting excited by making other people
excited and I think it's incredible."
Shaish started dancing when he was nine years old, began studying
acting in high school and started singing professionally when he
was in the army. Right now, he said, he feels most comfortable singing,
although he likes to combine the three arts. In two months, he will
be moving to New York City to do just that – to attend the
American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where he will specialize
in musicals.
While Shaish has been to Toronto, about six years ago, as a dancer
with a dance troupe, this will be his first visit to Western Canada.
About the Yom Ha'atzmaut concert, he assured the Independent,
"You're going to have a lot of fun."
Tickets for Dor Chadash are $12 and are available through Ticketmaster
at 604-280-3311 or www.ticketmaster.ca
or through the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver at 604-257-5100
or www.jfgv.com.
The concert takes place Monday, April 23, 7:30 p.m., at the Chan
Centre at the University of British Columbia.
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