Friday, July 09, 2010

International dance festival

When we first came to Netanya, every year at the beginning of summer there was an international folk dance festival. Then it was stopped, mainly because of the Palestinian intifada, not only were dance troupes reluctant to come, but it was dangerous to have a large crowd of people together. I am glad to say that this year they have restarted the tradition. Monday night we went to a performance in the amphitheater by the sea where eight different national troupes danced.

Before this they paraded through the main street, stopping and dancing in the squares, then they proceeded to the amphitheater, where we followed them for the performance. There were troupes from Ecuador, Russia, China, Mexico, Georgia, Serbia and Roumania. The place was packed with about 2,000 people. The show started with an Israeli troupe doing local dances, then came the various national groups. We were especially impressed by the Russians who did the "gezatzke" and similar athletic moves, and the Georgians who were very expressive. The whole performance was free, it was subsidized by the Netanya municipality, the Israeli Government and the Governments of each of the troupes sent to represent them. It is important to note that the success of the Israeli authorities in preventing terrorism made this renewal possible. Without the Security Fence and the actions taken against terrorism (such as targeted killings) this gathering would not have happened.

My primitive analysis of folk dancing is that it was a means (before dance halls, movies and facebook) where young men and women could meet and make physical contact. There was a lot of passing of scarves or other means to indicate interest. In my estimation there are two kinds of folk dances, one is the feet stamping, stomping kind, that is more syncopated and is found in the west and north, and the more melodic, soft shoe dancing that is found more in the south and east. An example of the former would be Spanish dancing (although they were not represented) and of the latter would be Georgian, where balletic steps are preferred.

Everybody had a great time, the clapping was spontaneous and the troupes seemed to be enjoying it too. This is part of the summer program that the municipality has organized to make Netanya attractive to tourists. Come and enjoy!

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