Dancing 'til Ya Drop

I am sure that I've told you that I love to dance. I am lucky enough to be a tap dancer, which is the happiest dancing in the world. Fa-lap, heel heel, step toe, heel touch.

Once a year, I spend three or four months rehearsing other types of dance - 60s dancing, stomp and anything else that's available - in order to perform in the post-Purim production of DAMES of the DANCE.
DAMES of the DANCE is a mega-dance spectacular with about 100 women and teens on stage. It features every sort of dance - jazz, hip hop, tap, modern, ballet, 60s, Middle Eastern, etc. The profits from our DAMES performances go to feed the needy of our region. So far, we have netted 140,000 NIS to help feed the poor of Gush Etzion/Efrat. It's a great feeling knowing that we can help others while doing something we love.

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF CHARITY

In order to make the most money for charity, we try to keep expenses low. All our choreographers are volunteers, as are our dancers. All our seamstresses and make-up artists are volunteers too.

One of our biggest expenses is material that we use to sew our costumes. But last year, we figured out a way to help pay for that fabric. We hosted an evening for women and teens called, DANCE NIGHT.

This year's DANCE NIGHT is being held on Motzei Shabbat (Saturday evening), November 13, 8 PM, in the Efrat Community Center. We're hoping hundreds of women will attend. Admission is 10 NIS ($2.50), and we're selling DVDs and T-Shirts that we hope will bring in more funds.

It's going to be the most FUN evening of dance. Our choreographers will teach an eight-count that our dancers can copy, and then they'll continue dancing using their new skill. We're going to dance and whirl and sashay and grape vine. We're going to have an incredible time together.

KEEPING UP WITH DANCE

Since I produce DAMES of the DANCE, my choreographers are very adamant that I keep up with the latest in dance. So in order to stay current in the latest dance trends, this week I attended two new classes.

The first was Broadway Dance in Studio 6. The teacher made Aliyah only 14 months ago. She came to Israel and saw there was no Broadway Dance (which is very popular in America) and she decided to teach it herself. Broadway Dance is made of the wide showy motions of a Broadway chorus. We danced to The Pink Panther and Steam Heat and great Broadway tunes.

What a fun class. If only I had time, this would be the perfect dance class for me!

Then tonight I attended a new dance/exercise class called, Zumba. Everyone's talking about it. It's part South American/part South African - a little of everything. And boy, was it a work out. I'm still sweating now. It's got great moves, fun music, and allows women to exercise aerobically in an exciting way. Everyone was rocking away. And I was so proud of myself - I made it through!!

I now have two new dance classes under my belt, and if I have leisure time in the future, I'm heading back to Broadway Dance and Zumba.

DANCE NIGHT

To raise money for DAMES 4 - Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael, we are hosting a DANCE NIGHT. This year's DANCE NIGHT will be held on Saturday evening, March 13. Please come.

Dames photos by Rebecca Kowalsky and Bati Katz