Workshop draws 100

LIANNE PALMINROSE

For the better part of 25 years, the Vancouver Israeli Folkdance Society has been meeting at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver to share its passion for Israeli dancing. This year, in conjunction with the JCCGV’s annual Festival Ha’Rikud, the VIFS invited world-renowned Israeli choreographer Rafi Ziv to teach the annual Israeli dance workshop. More than 100 dancers were welcomed over the weekend of April 26-28.

It began on Friday night. Forty dancers from the Lower Mainland and the Pacific Northwest gathered at Faye and Leon Cohen’s home to welcome Shabbat and to share a meal catered by Hagar Yekutieli. Ziv arrived tired and jetlagged but he perked up whenever anyone sat next to him to introduce him/herself to share the excitement about the coming weekend’s workshop.

Saturday morning, more dancers arrived from as far away as Chicago and, after a flurry of registration, the teaching began. At least 80 people piled into the gym to learn the first dance, one with many steps and nuances, patiently reviewed by Ziv with unflagging humor and an attention to detail. This set the stage for the rest of the workshop teaching: Ziv in the centre of the circle, patient, quick-witted, humble and affable, with the circle of dancers around him eager to learn. The morning session went by quickly. At noon, Festival Ha’Rikud’s teen dancers joined the workshop for a performance. They had already had a chance to meet and dance with Ziv and they enthusiastically shared a few dances together with the workshop participants. Following that, dancers were treated to an energetic taste of Zumba with Mya Baumer. After the busy morning, a lunch catered by Susie Siegel was a welcome and much-needed treat.

Saturday afternoon, the dancers’ heads and feet were filled with even more new steps, and we reviewed the dances taught that morning. (How quickly we forget!) Just when we thought our heads were full, there was one last dance to learn before breaking for dinner. Some of the locals joined the out-of-towners for dinner out. The rest went home to nap, grab a quick bite and return for Havdalah and a dance party.

The evening started with music by a local teen jazz band and a chance for dancers to shmooze. Havdalah was led by Naomi Taussig, with the dancers gathered, singing and sharing a dance choreographed by Ziv to that Havdalah melody. Following the end of Shabbat, the JCC Shalom Dancers entertained the group. Afterwards, a dance party got started in earnest and dancing continued into the wee hours of the morning.

Ziv managed to teach yet a few more dances and review the ones already taught to the sleepy yet energetic dancers who returned early Sunday morning. As had been the experience all weekend, the dances were challenging and nuanced, with an energy and intelligence that has come to be expected from Ziv’s choreography.

As the workshop came to a close, participants had the chance to take in various performances at Festival Ha’Rikud and partake in the festival atmosphere.

“The workshop would not have been possible without the hard and ongoing work of our executive,” said Nona Malki, president of the VIFS. “They worked diligently throughout the workshop to ensure that everything was seamless, from registration to decorations and set-up, to organizing the food and music. Throughout the year, they show the same dedication on a weekly basis making sure that Wednesday night dancing is a weekly success.”

The VIFS meets every Wednesday throughout the year in the JCCGV auditorium. Classes are held at 6:30 p.m. for Beginners II, 7 p.m. for Beginners I, 7:15 p.m. for Intermediate and Open Dance/Advanced starts at 8 p.m. Everyone is welcome. For more information, call 604-709-9027.

Lianne Palminrose has been an avid Israeli dancer for almost 40 years. While living in Ottawa, she taught a beginners level class and led a children’s Israeli dance group. She currently teaches the Beginners Level II class at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver and is on the Vancouver Israeli Folkdance Society executive.

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