www.horashalom.org.au 1

Hora Shalom

Dances of Israel

March 2014 Newsletter

CLASSES 2014

CLASS AND TIME DATE

VENUE

Saturday Morning *

10.00am – 12.00 noon

Weekly Next class: 22 March

Dalkeith Hall 97 Waratah Avenue Dalkeith

Tuesday Evening 7.15 – 9.00pm (Intermediate/Advanced)

Weekly Next class: 18 March

Subiaco Scout Hall 399 Rokeby Road Subiaco

Thursday Morning (Suitable for beginners) 10.00am – 12.00 noon

Weekly Next class: 20 March

Hilton Community Centre 1/34 Paget Street Hilton

Saturday Partner Dancing 12.45-2.15pm

Fortnightly Next class: 22 March

St Margaret’s Church Hall Cnr Elizabeth and Tyrell Streets Nedlands

CONTACTING HORA SHALOM TEACHERS

Our teachers are available and happy to take your enquiries regarding the classes and any other relevant matters. However, it would be much appreciated if you would consider their privacy, particularly on Friday evenings, which is Shabbat (Sabbath) and generally a time spent with family and friends away from work and dance commitments. Please feel free to approach any teachers after class, or via phone or e-mail during work hours.

Jenni jcohen@westnet.com.au 0401 292 918

Margaret madglen@iinet.net.au 9335 3799

Sara sarafreo-all@yahoo.cm.au 9335 2042

CLASS COSTS

$6.00 per class ($10.00 non-members)

**********************************

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP

$10.00

(to be paid prior to the AGM)

*On 29 March, the class will start at

9.15am and end at 11.00am as the AGM

will start at 11.15am.

www.horashalom.org.au 2

HORA SHALOM, INC.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

SATURDAY 29 MARCH 2014 at 11.15 AM

Dalkeith Hall, 97 Waratah Avenue, Dalkeith Please note that the Saturday class will run from 9.15am to 11.00 m to accommodate the AGM). Nominations for Committee Positions All members are welcome to nominate themselves or another member. If you wish to nominate someone else, please complete the form below. It may be sent: by post to the Secretary, Evanne Fineberg, at 77 Quickly Crescent, Hamilton Hill, WA

6163; or by email to efineberg25@gmail.com; or presented from the floor at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Any nominations must be accepted by the person nominated. All committee positions are up for election: Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, and at least two other committee members. Any member wishing to move a Motion at the AGM is requested to notify the Secretary, as above, not later than Saturday, 8 March, 2014.

**************************************************************************

2014 COMMITTEE NOMINATION FORM

I,_________________________________________, being a current member of Hora

Shalom, Inc., nominate ______________________________________________________

for the position of _________________________________________________________

on the 2014 Hora Shalom Committee.

Signature: Signature of Nominee:

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ PRINT NAME

____________________________________ PRINT NAME

This notice has already been displayed at all classes, as well as being sent to members. Please note that the deadline for motions has now passed.

www.horashalom.org.au 3

SUSAN – PASSIONATE

DANCER & TEACHER

I started Israeli dancing in 1997 on Tuesday evenings at Temple David when Sara Friedman was teaching with Rachel Lev. I was captivated by Sara’s grace and style and quickly became a regular at any classes that were available. This included international folk dance which I attended regularly for some time. Jenni Cohen, a friend since 1961, had been going to the classes and was constantly telling me, ‘Suzi, you’ll love Israeli dance. Why don’t you come along and check it out?’ She would also enthusiastically show me the dances she was learning which, at the time I thought looked a little odd, but in the end Jenni’s enthusiasm got the better of me and I realised I just had to ‘check out’ this class. From the first class I loved Israeli dance and the passion pushed me to learn as much as I could. I wanted to know the dances and I wanted to share this passionate experience I was having. I wanted other people to share the same joy I felt when I danced. In 2001 I started teaching Israeli dance in Fremantle and, as I became more experienced, Sara offered me the Thursday class in White Gum Valley in 2002. Sara has always been very good at giving everyone who had an ‘inclination’ a chance at teaching. She provided opportunities to ‘test the waters’, so to speak. Even with the extreme challenges I encountered I found I really enjoyed teaching. To be honest, if I had not been so passionate about dancing, I would not have taught because it was extremely challenging. When I dance I just copy and my body/muscle memory is good, but to teach I had to spend a lot of time pulling the steps apart and it was like relearning something in a completely different way. My first experience of dancing outside Perth was at a Melbourne workshop with choreographer Tuvia Tishler. That was so exciting. We danced until we dropped. Lots of dances were taught which left your head spinning. The pace of teaching was fast so it was quite challenging but equally as exciting. In 2000 I attended a workshop in New Zealand with choreographer Shmulik Gov Ari. It was a wonderful experience. I was captivated by Shmulik--- the way he teaches and tells a story about the dance. It’s such an exciting experience to dance with so many people who are all as keen as you. I taught a couple of dances from the workshop, but my favourite was Etz Hazait. To this day I picture Shmulik as I hear the music. In more recent times we went again to Melbourne for another of Shmulik’s workshops (my all-time favourite choreographer). A lovely opportunity to dance/teach alongside Jenni on return from a lovely workshop experience. Israeli dance and Hora Shalom have affected my life in many ways. First, they gave me the opportunity for the passion of dance to flower in my soul. Through such deep passion I had the chance to extend way past personal barriers which existed in myself. I grew in confidence and it gave me a new way to express myself. Especially with the teaching I learned a whole set of new skills. The beautiful people you get to know and lovely friendships that develop over time. It’s kept me fit and always gives me a focus. I guess a graceful way to grow. Now I am just grateful for all the experiences---challenging, but beautiful. Thank you Sara . . .Thank you Hora Shalom. Susan was interviewed by Evanne Fineberg

www.horashalom.org.au 4

PERFORMANCES GALORE

November, December and Chanuka 2013 saw lots of opportunities for extra activities. We danced at two Aged Homes, at the Jewish Centre, the Old Fremantle Synagogue and at Burswood for Have a Go Day. (The Oval, not the Casino or Theatre!)

Have a Go Day The Performance Group once again danced at Have a Go Day at Burswood on Wednesday 13 November. This was great fun but had moments of apprehension, with a challenging electrical connection and the late but most welcome arrival of Ros, who left school to join us! We danced twice to generous audiences of strangers and friends and caught up with other groups of Active Seniors, including the Circle Dance Group. The workshops at the end of our performances proved very successful and lots of people joined in. Several of our dancers in the audience helped swell the numbers splendidly.

Aged Homes and Chanuka Robert helped organise a performance in Carlisle on a rather hot Friday in November. Finding our way there was challenging enough and the interior proved even more so! Some of the residents were so taken with our exuberance that they wandered onto the dance floor to join us! (Not the first time this has happened!) Once again we were invited to perform at the Maurice Zeffert Home for Chanuka. We are always made to feel especially welcome there and, as usual, had a ball. So much of the music is familiar to the residents and they clapped and sang along to Tzadik Katamar and Yedid Nefesh especially. On the 28 November, some of the past and present dancers from Hora Shalom helped Rabbi Sheryl celebrate Chanukah at the Old Fremantle Synagogue, using dances to tell the Chanuka story and then, after the candle lighting, we just danced! Great fun and far too much food! Oil is one of the symbols of Chanuka and this is a great excuse to eat latkes (potato pancakes) and suvganiot (doughnuts). Hora Maccabi invited Hora Shalom to dance with them at the Jewish centre for the Communal Chanuka celebrations on Sunday 1 December. The weather was kind and the other entertainment was enjoyable. We had a last minute rehearsal , humming the dances, and had wonderfully loud music for the real thing. It was great to have so many people joining in, whether they knew the dances or not! At the end a group of young women led Dance Me To the End of Love as they had recently learnt it for a wedding. Margaret Glenister

www.horashalom.org.au 5

DANCE YOUR WAY THROUGH 2014

Information on dance classes and events worldwide is available at www.israelidances.com so, whenever you travel, be sure to check the site before you leave to see if you can fit in a class or workshop. To date, the following workshops and camps are being held in Australia this year:

Our annual end of year party was held at Mt Hawthorn Community Hall on a warm December day. It was extremely well attended by members and guests and a fitting celebration to another great year of dancing. Entertainment was provided by the Red Sea Pedestrians, and that was the theme for the day, which was interpreted in various ways by those attending. Presentations were made to our teachers, who were thanked for their knowledge, expertise and willingness to share their love of dance. The shared lunch was as always a highlight, and a wonderful way to end our dancing year. Thanks to the committee for preparing the hall and to Jan and her helpers for arranging the

lunch. It is much appreciated.

Ros Lanham

END OF YEAR PARTY

DANCE GROUP EVENT DATE

ZOOZ, Melbourne Workshop with Ofer Alfasi http://zoozdancing.com.au/zd1/

1-6 May

Machol, Melbourne Israeli Dance Winter Camp with Ilan Swissa http://www.machol.org.au/messages.html

27-29 June

Nirkoda, Melbourne Workshop with choreographers Nona Malki and Tamir Shalev http://www.nirkoda.org/nirkoda.htm

24-28 October

In November, we welcomed Shula, who visits Perth each year to celebrate her granddaughter’s birthday. Shula, and Moshe, run Machol Dance Club in Melbourne, and have led three workshops for Hora Shalom in Perth over the past ten years, each to great acclaim. They have brought to us enduring dances such as Isha Al Hachof, At Cheruti, Yassu Hachayim, Giv’a Achat and many others in the Hora Shalom repertoire. Shula attended our Saturday class and taught the beautiful dance Sodot. Luckily for us, Shula also arranged her flights so that she could attend our Tuesday night class as well, during which she taught Maripossa. Both dances have become firm favourites, their popularity as much a function of Shula’s enthusiasm and teaching ability as the melodies and choreography. Jenni Rosenberg

VISIT FROM SHULA

www.horashalom.org.au 6

GOODBYE STEVENS STREET HALL . . .

HALLO HILTON COMMUNITY CENTRE While change was necessary and it is a great relief to have an air-conditioned hall for the hot months, I, for one, was sad to say goodbye to the old hall and lament the loss of ‘my’ parking spot under a shady tree, the surrounding freesias in late winter, and the wonderful profusion of almond blossom by the loo in spring! Jeanette Dunkley

Jeanette spoke at the lunch after the last dance class in the hall.

Today is a very special day for the Thursday dancers - not simply because it is the last day of our dancing year here – but because it has been our last day of dancing in this little hall. I’m not sure how long dancers from Hora Shalom have been dancing here – I know that for me it has been nine or ten years – and that for others it has been significantly longer than that. When I first began dancing here, not long after I started with Hora Shalom, Susan Kobelke was teaching and she was very helpful to everyone. Then when Susan had other commitments, we had a little meeting to decide if we wanted to continue on without a teacher. We decided to do that and we were greatly helped during that time by Betty, who religiously opened the hall for us, made sure we had milk and biscuits and looked after the money – as did Trish at a later stage. Margaret was not teaching on Thursdays at that time but she helped by giving us guidance with the old well-known dances, as did Trish. However, mostly people did not know the names of the dances and so, if Margaret went away on holiday, we were often quite stuck and it was quite miraculous that we managed to continue on with sometimes only six or eight dancers. Then later on, when Margaret became more accustomed to teaching dancing, she took on the task of teaching us on Thursdays and she has now been doing that for a long time. Of more recent years, we have been privileged to have Sara come once a month to teach us new dances and revise old ones and we have benefited a great deal from her help and that of Susan and Jenny Shah. However, it has been Margaret who has set up the music program for us now for many years and has either taught us new dances herself or has taken on the task of making sure that we have thoroughly learned the dances that Sara has introduced, as well as keeping up her teaching at other classes, not to speak of the time it takes to study the dances

and learn them herself – while also doing other very time-consuming things like cutting CDs for us, so that we have the benefit of becoming more familiar with the music for our dances. And with all this help, this group has flourished and our numbers have increased enormously. So, because this is our last day here, some of us

have decided that, as individuals, it is

appropriate to present Margaret with this little

posy as a gesture of thanks for her help and

dedication – and to mark this quite significant

occasion. And we hope that she will accept our

thanks and this little gift in the spirit in which

both are intended.

***************

The work of finding the new hall is

acknowledged by a fellow dancer:

Jeanette Dunkley has been a significant mover and shaker at dance lately! After many attempts by many Hora Shalom members over the years and many conversations about finding ‘somewhere else', Jeanette did find somewhere. With her ability to take on a project and not stop until she solves it, she researched options, sought second opinions then presented her solution. So as we dance in our cool new venue - thank you Jeanette. And thank you for organising our end of year lunch. .

***************

On the first day of Thursday Dance, my true reflection said to me, yes, your bottom is that big! Yes, we have moved into the Hilton Community Centre, a large air-conditioned hall with an entire wall of mirrors! At first it was ‘let’s cover it up’ but we soon realised you could see the teacher with your back to the centre. The facilities are excellent, with a lovely kitchen that spills into a courtyard and free parking in the streets surrounding the centre. Thanks to Jeanette for succeeding in finding a much needed alternative venue and to Esther for bringing a celebratory cake for the first morning tea!

Hilary Silbert

www.horashalom.org.au 7

GET WELL SOON, A FAREWELL, A BIRTHDAY

Flora is a much loved member of Hora Shalom. Nobody can move to dances with a Latin

American beatlike Flora does. We are used to Flora’s travels as she visits her family in Brazil with husband Albert, organises and hosts tours to China, and follows Albert as he works around the world. And we have grown used to her always coming ‘back home’ to Perth. However Flora and Albert have decided to make Melbourne their home base which, in so many ways, is Melbourne’s gain and our loss. Flora came to a class to say goodbye after being overseas for a lengthy period and, although it was wonderful to see her, we were also sad to have to acknowledge that she was leaving Perth. We wish her and Albert every joy in their new home. Although Flora no longer dances with Hora Shalom, we’re delighted that she has moved to a city that gives her the opportunity to dance every day of the week if she wants to. In fact some of us are quite jealous! She may now be in Melbourne but we’re constantly reminded of Flora whenever we dance to a Latin American beat as we aspire to move like her.

Tully turned eighty on 21 February and, despite his protestations, his

fellow dancers were not going to let the occasion go unnoticed. Tully has danced with Hora Shalom for many years and, although he says he was a bad dancer when he began, one would never believe that was ever the case when you see him dance nowadays. He has attended all the classes—Saturday morning, Tuesday night, Thursday morning and Partners—over the years; he partnered Michiko, enabling her to teacher

partner dances effectively; helps with class setting up; and is unfailingly willing to offer advice if he can see a dancer struggling. The day after Tully’s birthday being a Saturday meant it was an ideal day for Hora Shalom dancers to acknowledge his milestone. Michal, Tully’s daughter, was visiting so having her dance with us was a lovely family connection. The committee organised a surprise morning tea for Tully as Hora Shalom’s way of both thanking him for his friendship, his work and support for the group, and wishing him many more years of dancing. Postscript Once again, despite protestations, Hora Maccabi held an afternoon tea to celebrate Tully’s 80th birthday on the same afternoon. Members of the Monday Seniors group and the Tuesday night group, and Tully’s wife, Melanie, and Michal attended. Tully also received a surprise ‘visit’ from Michiko via Skype.

Linda has received further treatment and will have to spend a good few weeks recovering

and recuperating. We send her our best wishes and hope to hear of her progress from Philippa, and we especially look forward to seeing her back dancing on Saturday mornings. Rob is recovering from an operation and we wish him all the very best for a speedy

recovery. Rob dances with a number of groups and, over the past couple of years, has attended many interstate workshops. We hope to see him returning to Hora Shalom soon with news of his good health and the workshops he’s booked to attend.

www.horashalom.org.au 8

STAY COOL & SAFE THIS SUMMER/AUTUMN

With the hot weather, and no air-conditioning in some venues, it is essential that you maintain your fluid intake and wear fabrics that ‘breathe’. And, of course, for your own comfort and that of your fellow dancers, a spray of deodorant and a freshly washed shirt or top are highly recommended!

JUST A FEW THINGS TO NOTE

NEW VENUE FOR PARTNER CLASSES

The Partner Classes team is delighted to announce that the new venue for the fortnightly Saturday classes is St Margaret's Hall Cnr Tyrell and Elizabeth Street, Nedlands The hall is air-conditioned, has a very good floor for dancing, and is much closer to the Dalkeith Hall for those who attend the 10.00am-12 noon class at Dalkeith.

SPONTANEOUS DANCE FOR PEACE PERTH

Steph, a member of Hora Shalom whom we see irregularly, organised a flash mob to

celebrate World Peace Day last year. The video is now available at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPjgFvdfSGY&feature=youtu.be

Coraline’s Story ‘There was a little girl her name was Apple. She used to dance a lot. She danced and danced until her feet turned into sossajes. The end.’ Neil Gaiman, Coraline