Years ago a dance teacher told Eve Cameron that she should always dance. At the time she didn’t really feel the significance of that comment, but it seems maybe somewhere inside her the message stuck.
Now, something else has told her that she should always be teaching: a Harold Grinspoon Foundation Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. The two are related since it’s her teaching of Israeli dance that won her this honor.
The energy that has come from the second message has grabbed hold too. With the recognition from the Grinspoon Foundation comes a trip to Israel and a financial award, and with it she wants to take a dance tour of Israel. Meanwhile she’s also started taking more classes in Albany with the ultimate goal of teaching teachers how to give Israeli Dance instruction. Her Pittsfield based program at Sinai Academy, where she teaches all of the students Israeli dance, is the only one of its scope in Western Massachusetts. She also teaches at Knesset Israel in Pittsfield, and last winter held adult classes at Sinai Academy as well.
Most of what Cameron does she does with kids. At a recent Albany Israeli Dance Festival her kids shone, from kindergardeners doing traditional folk dances to her older 4th and 5th graders adding a more modern folk piece. In fact the costumes started as long silk tunics and loose fitting pants that tied at the ankle, but after their first piece, the kids pulled their tunics off over their heads and untied their pants to become a modern group in bell bottoms and tie dye shirts. They moved to Yemeni inspired rhythms.
The first Israeli dance came from the pioneer period just before and after Israeli statehood. People were coming to the kibbutzim and brought with them rhythms and dance from all over the world that would influence the folk tradition in Israel. She explains that this is still happening since Israel continues to be a melting pot. Spanish and Moroccan rhythms are as likely as the Eastern European or middle Eastern ones, and they all form what she calls folk. “Folk dancing is of the folk, so whatever the folk are doing, that’s folk dancing,â€
At a recent panel on Israeli dance at Hofstra University the question was raised, “Is it really Israeli if it sounds like it’s from Mexico?†to which a panel ethnologist answered that this form will always be changing and transforming.
In fact, Cameron’s name will go on some of the newer dances, since she has choreographed, including a piece recently performed by the graduating class at Sinai. She says this has no less value than the dances of which she has notes from 1945 and 1957.
What makes Israeli folk dance special, she says, is that it’s not just from a particular country, but rather from a culture and a religion. She thinks it also connects people to their national homeland. Parents who came to the graduation yesterday and saw the dance were pleased to see that their children have learned to connect religion not just with books and praying, but with their whole bodies, she says. It’s like art in that way, she says: It’s another wonderful way to feel and to express.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
Berkshire Food Project Closed for Power Issues
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Berkshire Food Project is closed Monday because of a power outage early in the morning.
"We are unable to get proper electricity and heat to the building," according to Executive Director Matthew Alcombright. "We hope that this can be resolved and be open tomorrow."
The project does have some sandwiches and frozen meals that will be distributed at the entry.
The city has lifted a boil water order — with several exceptions — that was issued late Monday morning following several water line breaks over the weekend. click for more
The bridge had been closed to all vehicle traffic since March 2023 after being deemed structurally deficient by the state Department of Transportation. click for more
