Re: Eastern European & Other Ethnic Influences in Traditional Israeli Folk music/dance Programs in New York City (fwd)

[H. Kaufman <hkaufman...>]

This brief response to Avi may be of interest to folks on the lists who
received the original posting. 
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Apparently some people are not aware of the history and origins of Israeli
folk dancing, which is an integral aspect of the mission of Rikuday Dor
Rishon (Dances of the First Generation) and our annual Shorashim--Roots of
Israeli Folk Dance program, held every Labor Day weekend. 

First of all, there are dances of the Halutzim (pioneers) whose roots go
back to adaptations of Eastern European dances (e.g., Hora, Krakoviak,
Troika, Korobushka, Polka), some of which were introduced by the
Socialist-Zionists during the Second Aliyah period (approximately
1905-1914), when the first Kibbutzim (communal farms) were established.
Hora Aggadati is possibly the first true Israeli folk dance, whose origins
date back to 1924 based on movements created by Baruch Aggadati, a noted
Israeli dancer of that period. The dance as we know it today was adapted
by Gurit Kadman (considered the "mother" of Israeli folk dance) back in
the 1940's.  Another well known Israeli dance, Mayim (water), was created
in 1938 to commemorate the discovery of water at Kibbutz Na'an after a 10
year search.  The first folk dance festival was held at Kibbutz Dalia in
1944, where dances of the Halutzim were performed as well as other Eastern
European Jewish dances such as the Sherele and the more recently emerging
folk dances of local origin, such as Mayim and Kol Dodi.  More folk dances
of local origin were performed at the second Kibbutz Dalia dance festival
in 1947 (e.g., Debka Rafiach, Harmonika, Hava Nitze b'machol, Ken Yovdu,
Mechol Ovadia). By the third Dalia festival in 1951, Israeli folk dance
was well established with many other classic dances (e.g., Bat Yiftach,
Be'er Basadeh, Debka Gilboa) already part of the repertoire. Typically,
the classic Israeli folk dances were connected with various celebrations,
festivals and historical events. 

I hope this brief response to Ari's question makes it clear that the
classic Israeli folk dances do go back further than the 1950's.  If anyone
is interested in seeing or dancing them, you are welcome to join us on
sunday evenings in New York or at Shorashim over the Labor Day weekend
(where we just commemorated the 100th birthday of Gurit Kadman).   

Haim Kaufman

For further info contact me at (212)620-0535 or rdrdance (at) juno(dot)com

On Fri, 26 Sep 1997, Ari Davidow wrote:

> >Thought this might be of interest to some folks in the New York area. 
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Rikuday Dor Rishon
> >Israeli Folk Dancing 
> >in the Classic Tradition
> >Celebrating its 10th Anniversary
> 
> This sounds like fun, but _Israeli_ Folk Dancing
> in the _Classic_ Tradition? I mean, do any of 
> these dances go back further than the '50s?
> (Or is this like "classic rock"--but don't
> get me started on what =that= means.)
> 
> ari
> 
> 
> Ari Davidow
> ari (at) ivritype(dot)com
> http://www.ivritype.com/