Dance Girls, Dance

A few weeks ago after the End of the Year show by the Efrat Community Center Dance Department, I wrote that Efrat is becoming Israel's dance capital. Folks that are involved in dance here agreed, and others asked, "Really!? Or is that some Sharon Katz over excitement." Um...really!

Well, tonight I was attended a Dance program for third to sixth graders at the Orot Etzion Girls School on the Zayit Hill. Every Wednesday the school provides a free extra-curricular activity for the girls. More than 90 girls study dance on that day. Tonight's production was the result of those afterschool activities.

The girls just love dance and are devoted to their dance teacher. The school has reinforced a dedication to dance and an understanding that in order to excel in dance or anything else, a girl must practice, work as a team, and apply herself.

Each group performed in front of hundreds of mothers and sisters. The spirit was animated and older girls provided the mandatory "shrieks of excitement."

Good for you, Orot Etzion, for investing in your students' creativity and talent as well as its spiritual side.

Betar Dance

Straight from the Orot Etzion dance performance, I went to the Matnas Gush Etzion for the Betar Girls' Dance Production. Dancers from child to teens from the Lital Schertzman Studio B Dance Groups performed ballet, jazz, hip hop and modern.

Sometimes people mistakenly think that religious (it's often called Ultra-Orthodox) communities do not train their girls well in the arts. On the contrary, Lital Schertzman's dancers were graceful, fun and dynamic and all-round excited to perform on Stage.

So, it was a great night for Dance in Efrat and then Gush Etzion.

And may you, dear readers, always have many reasons to dance, dance, dance.

Photos by me