Hello Gainesville Area Israeli Dancers and Friends,
Israeli Dancing this Thursday night, March 26 with Beginners
from 7 to 8, Intermediate 8 to 9 and Advanced 9 onward.
Please encourage people to sign up for the beginner series
starting April 23. This is the best time for people to start.
They will be starting with a group like themselves.
The class is for new dancers, will go slow and be easy.
At the end of the evening we will have a follow up on the
late night meeting we had two weeks ago. Read the article
on the dance program and objectives to be prepared.
See the article on meeting notes to check that your input
from our early meeting was recorded correctly.
There are a number of corrections to the information in last
week's article.
West Coast Swing and Hustle on Sunday at 6:30.
Tonight, Wednesday March 25 is a West Coast Swing practice
and dance party at Maria Alvarez Imperial Dance Studio on
SW 34 Street, south of Archer Road on the west side.
7:00 - 9:00 pm. Public invited. Hosted by Judi Markell.
Cost is $5 per person.
The Gainesville dance schedule here.
http://www.dancecalendar.info/u/event.asp?idarea=19
Happy Dancing,
Andy
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Schedule:
1. Thursday 3/26 - Israeli Dancing with Andy
2. Sunday 3/29 - West Coast Swing and Hustle with Andy
3. Sat-Sun 4/18-19 - Israeli Dance Workshop with Ruth Goodman in Orlando
4. Thursday 4/23 - 5 Week Super Simple Israeli Dance Beginner Series starts
Article: Israeli Dance Program and Objectives
Article: Updated Israeli Dance Meeting Notes
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Quotes:
- Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen
and thinking what nobody has thought.
~ Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi
- I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true.
~ Dorothy Parker
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1. Thursday 3/26 - Israeli Dancing with Andy
B'nai Israel
3830 NW 16 Blvd
7:00 - 8:00 : Beginners
8:00 - 9:00 : Intermediate
9:00 - 10:00 : Advanced
$5 family, $3 student
or $20/month, $10/month students
For all ages, all levels, novice to advanced.
No Israeli Dance experience needed.
Andrew, 561-939-2469, 352-378-2219, publish@jewishnetwork.com
http://gainesville.israelidance.info
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2. Sunday 3/29 - West Coast Swing and Hustle with Andy
Gainesville Dance and Music Association
308 W University Avenue
6:30 : West Coast Swing for beginners
7:00 : West Coast Swing intermediate
8:30 : Hustle
$20/month general, $10/month students
or $7 general, $4 students per class
Includes Thursday Israeli dancing
Andrew, 561-939-2469, publish@dancecalendar.info
http://gainesville.danceswing.info
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3. Saturday-Sunday 4/18-19 - Israeli Dance Workshop with Ruth Goodman in Orlando
Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando
851 N Maitland Ave
Maitland, FL 32751
Saturday
7:30 pm - 11:30 pm - Instruction and dance party
Sunday
9:00 am - 5:00 pm - Lunch break 12:30-2
Followed by Pot Luck Dinner and dancing
$20-$55 by April 7, $10 additional at the door
Julie, 407-645-5933 x238, juliev@orlandojcc.org
www.orlandojcc.org
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4. Thursday 4/23 - 5 Week Super Simple Israeli Dance Beginner Series Starts
B'nai Israel
3830 NW 16 Blvd
7:00 - 8:00 : Super Simple Israeli Dance Beginner Series
8:00 - 8:30 : Intermediate
9:00 - 10:00 : Advanced
From Passover to Shavout, journey with the ancient
Israelites in spirit, as you learn to dance.
Have fun, meet people, get exercise, enjoy great
music and get a taste of Israeli cultural.
For all ages. No experience needed. If you can walk, you can dance.
This is a great opportunity to start with
other people at your level.
Classes at B'nai Israel, from 7 to 8 pm.
Cost is $20 per family, $10 students, for all 5 weeks,
if paid in advance by April 16.
$30 per family, $15 students afterwards.
Intermediate and Advanced dancing
$5 family, $3 student
or $20/month, $10/month students
Andrew, 561-939-2469, 352-378-2219, publish@jewishnetwork.com
http://gainesville.israelidance.info
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Article: Israeli Dance Program and Objectives
1. Israeli Dance Program History
Dora Friedman ran an Israeli Dance program at Hillel
for a couple of decades beginning around the late 1970s
or early 1980s to the late 1990s. Do not know if there
was dancing before that. A number of us are still around
from that program including Erin and Jonathan, Shana,
Arlene, Tony and family, and myself.
After Dora left, Tony continued an Israeli Dance program
at Kol Simcha and Hillel had intermittent dancing. At the
end of 2004 Erin ran some Israeli Dance beginner sessions
at B'nai Israel.
In 2005 I started this Israeli Dance program. I wanted to
do advanced dances and so, I ran the program on two nights
so people would learn faster. Up until last summer, we
also danced Sundays at GDMA downtown, and we still may
do dancing again on Sundays at some point.
While Avital was here, she asked me if she could include
both nights as a joint program between me and the JCCGW,
to which I agreed.
Since the JCCGW dissolved there has been no organization
overseeing the Jewish community adult education.
2. Who Is Responsible for this Israeli Dance Program
This Israeli Dance program is provided by my company.
We have made arrangements to rent space from B'nai Israel.
The program is run in keeping with B'nai Israel's charter.
3. Fees for the Program.
My company's fee for providing this program currently is $5
per family per week, $3 for students, or $20 and $10 monthly.
You can apply this fee to my company's Sunday night program.
My company's fee is for providing the program. The fee is
independent of anything I personally do.
B'nai Israel will likely be charging an additional fee on top
of my fee.
4. Problems with Israeli Dance Programs in General
A. Since I started Israeli Dancing in 1989, old-timers were
complaining of the problems caused by a large repetoire,
specifically how it limits the inclusion of most people.
B. We have a lot of cultural meaning left out that could be included.
C. We do not learn much dance technique so we do not improve
our dance skills.
5. Program Objectives
My objectives for running this Israeli Dance program intend
to address those problems. The objectives are:
1. Learn Israeli Folk Dance tradition
- Classic, ethnic and folk dances
- Musical, cultural and religious tradition
- Group dancing of which holding hands is a vital element
2. Learn dance skills
- Posture, balance, musicality
- Dancing as a group, connection
- Following without the need to memorize
6. Benefits
The benefits of including cultural aspects to our dancing
is to have a more meaningful dance experience.
The benefits of learning dance skills:
A. Better dancers, look better, feel better,
dancing is easier, safer, more enjoyable for us
and others dancing with us
B. When we learn how to follow without feeling stress,
we can do every dance even when we do not know the steps.
This is a tremendous advantage for a group. This is the
primary skill I have been trying to teach.
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Article: Updated Israeli Dance Meeting Notes
Here are your comments regarding the structure of the sessions.
Let me know if they are not correct or if you want to add or change
anything. I will use your comments to make a plan going forward.
Thank you for your input.
There were two questions:
1. What would you like done for you?
2. What can you suggest be done to get more people?
I have only listed comments as they directly pertain
to these two questions.
People are listed in alphabetical order with their comments.
Becky
- Slow teaching.
- More repetitions of the dances we are learning.
- A way to get from where she is to the next level.
Cyd
- Happy with how things are.
- Would like more variety of easy dances during
the first hour.
Elizabeth
- Like things the way they are.
- Likes the small group.
Erin
- Would like more variety of easy dances during
the first hour.
- Wider variety of dances at the intermediate/advanced level
- Titles of dances taught or reviewed be presented in an easily
visible way, to help me, and possibly others, learn those titles
and become responsible for requesting them.
Joseph
- Likes that we are flexible and accomodate to the people there.
- Likes being able to bring the baby.
- Would like to do some partner dances during the second hour.
- Observed that people like doing dances they know.
- Youth likes youth.
Karen
- Happy with how things are (via email).
Michael
- Happy with how things are.
- Able to step out and not have us stop for him.
- Dancing twice a week helps a lot.
- Would like to know words of song, significance
of what they mean
Shalisha
- More teaching at beginning for intermediate.
- More couples dances.
- More teaching of couples dances.
Shana
- Like when we go over things, review mostly.
Tim
- I have no problem with leading a dance, once twice 3 times it
doesnt matter, but once you get to the 50th+ time it gets old
and I am no longer going to lead it.
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Meeting Your Requests
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I. What can we do for you?
The people that come dancing expressed that they were happy
with how things are. That is to be expected, because that is
why they come.
We should be able to meet most of the requests by Becky, Cyd,
Erin, Joseph and Tim without disrupting those that like things
the way they are. Here are the requests and my thoughts for
meeting them:
Becky - more repetitions, slow teaching - I think Elizabeth
and Michael would be happy with this too. I am happy
to go at whatever pace is comfortable for you.
With the new beginners series, you will have a
chance to get in a lot of practice also. I will
try to pick a new set of easy dances so you can
learn something new as well.
How to get to the next level - You need to get more
comfortable with the physical elements to be able to
do faster and more complicated dances. A way we have
been working on this is to do a series of dances with
a common rhythm. We started with walking in 4/4 time.
We added waltz. We have been workin on yemenite and
the 1-2 1-2-3 rhythms. We need to work on our turns,
which I think are presenting the most problems.
Cyd and Erin - more easy dances the first hour -
As long as the pace is comfortable for the beginners,
we have other easy dances to do. I think it is fine to
include some of them as long as they fit into the physical
elements they are learning and they dance will add to their
useful repetoire, meaning the dance will be part of our
regular repetoire. There are only so many dances people can
learn and I do not want them to waste their learning time on
dances we are not going to do regularly.
Elizabeth - likes the small group - an important point.
Will interpret that to imply the group retains a certain
character, which I would like to clearly define. See
the objectives above.
Erin - wider variety of dances at the intermediate and
advanced levels - During request time, I am fine playing
whatever anyone requests, even dances we have not taught,
provided I have the music and at least a minimum number
of people are dancing. What that minimum number is, I do
not know yet. During the intermediate time, I actually
think we need a smaller repetoire if we want to include
other people. See my thoughts below on repetoire.
Titles of dances taught or reviewed be presented in an
easily visible way, to help me, and possibly others,
learn those titles and become responsible for requesting
them - Great idea. You can be in charge of this.
Joseph - some partner dances the second hour -
We should be able to do a regular partner set
around 8:30 of three dances.
Likes that we are flexible and accomodate to the people
there - think this is an important part of the character
of our group that we want to continue.
Observed that people like doing dances they know - true
and speaks to the need for learning following skills.
Youth likes youth - the question of how to bring up a
new generation. We need to start training young people
to be leaders.
Michael - able to step out and not have us stop for him -
sounds like a good policy.
Dancing twice a week helps a lot - yes, maybe we can
provide more opportunities.
Would like to know words of song, significance of what
they mean - an opportunity for you Hebrew speakers to
add content to our dancing. Please contribute as well
as for suggestions of dances to go along with holidays
and the weekly parsha.
Shalisha - more teaching at beginning for intermediate -
we need to develop and publish a repetoire and curriculum.
More couples dances and more teaching of couples dances -
I would like to do this also.
Shana - like when we go over things, review mostly - along
the lines of Shalisha's request and relates to our repetoire.
Tim - do not know how to turn Tim's comment into an action
item, but open to suggestions.
II. What can we do to get more people?
No one had any suggestions on what to do to get more people.
Elizabeth questioned whether that was even something we
should be making an effort to do.
Joseph made the point that youth likes youth.
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My Thoughts
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The Repetoire
It seems to me one problem we have is with our repetoire.
The problem with our repetoire is we do not all know the same dances.
Much of the time, people sit out because they do not know the dance.
Instead of having eight people dancing, we might only have three.
The large repetoire likely keeps away other dancers who are not
our regulars. There are a lot of people in town that have done
Israeli dancing. They may want to show up on an inconsistent basis,
but our large repetoire discourages this.
We have too many dances for anyone except people that come all
the time.
If we shrink our repetoire and plan a program to teach all the
dances. We can publish this so people know when we do what dances.
We can work together on developing a core repetoire.
We can still have an extended repetoire, but we have to decide
how we will allocate our time.
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Andrew Weitzen
publish@jewishnetwork.com
561-939-2469
Gainesville, FL
www.JewishNetwork.com
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