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May 30, 2008
The language of dance
Vancouver hosts dancers from Israel and Miami.
ALLEGRA LEVY
Young people from Israel and Miami joined those from Vancouver in a full weekend of dance and Israeli cultural learning at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver's annual Festival Ha'Rikud.
The festival seeks to create a sense of unity between the groups, while embracing a love for rikudei am, the dances of our people.
The 20 participants who came from Israel are a part of the dance group Hora Goel. The group has been coming to Vancouver since 2005, including a visit for the 2006 Maccabi Games.
Their presence here has become a fixture and, despite coming from a different country and in some cases facing a language barrier, friendships always manage to form. This year, there was even a budding Canadian-Israeli romance.
The international participants of the festival said they felt welcome in Vancouver. Tal Naor, a 14-year-old from Kiryat Shmona said, "People are kind, they're nice and they're thoughtful."
Although Naor was in Vancouver only a short time, the city and her new friends have had a real effect on her. "Vancouver is a beautiful city, and the people, their dancing, is very special – although it is the rikudei am that we have in Israel, it is very special," said Naor.
Valerie Lencovski, a 14-year-old from Miami, agreed that Israeli dancing is unique. "It's different. I love everything, the festivals and the people," she said. Lencovski has been a dancer all her life and she has been to Israel, but said she felt a difference meeting Israelis in North America.
Both girls seemed sad at the idea of leaving Vancouver and their new friends, but they expressed a kind of confidence in the unity of their friendship through Israeli dance.
"Dancing is our language," said Naor.
On Sunday evening, after the events of the festival's main day were over, the visitors and members of the JCCGV's performance troupe, Or Hadash, went to Gastown for dinner.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver's Partnership 2000, a program that binds cities across Vancouver to Israel's Galilee panhandle, provided the resources for Hora Goel's transportation to Canada. While here, they were shown home hospitality within the community. As part of their visit, the international groups toured the various Jewish day schools around Vancouver and gave a performance at the Louis Brier Home and Hospital, an event which organizer Debbie Tabenkin described as "incredibly moving."
"The goal of the program is first of all to teach Israeli culture, but through a different medium, through dance," said Tabenkin. The presence of Hora Goel in Vancouver has become an annual opportunity for Israeli children in grades eight, nine and 10 to visit Canada.
Tabenkin has been the festival's organizer since its inception in 2005 and she works in conjunction with Roger Weiger of the Jewish community centre in Miami, Fla. Since 2005, the event has grown from 40 participants to well over 200 and includes various classes around the city during the school year. Tabenkin said she just wants to "make Israeli dance cool. These are not your old circle dances."
This year, the festival was called Rak b'Yisrael (Only in Israel). Honoring the state of Israel's 60th birthday, the name reflected a new goal of the program – to learn about Israeli culture on a deeper level. Each group was given a city in Israel to incorporate into their performance, providing some history and modern-day insight.
The event included participants from ages five to 19 and is inclusive of groups from various schools and other Israeli dance groups, like the JCCGV's Or Hadash. This year, events began on May 23, with a social dance and Kabbalat Shabbat. Over the weekend were a teen dance and the festival proper, culminating on May 26 with a gala performance. Funding for these events was gathered privately and included money from Canada Heritage and the JCCGV.
Allegra Levy is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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