Israeli Folk Dancing - History and Description

History and Description

Originally, Israeli folk dances were introduced as way to create a new culture in an old-new land, by combining elements from other dance cultures with the music and themes of modern Israel. Most of these dances were created specifically to be danced in Israel by Israelis, young and old, as a way of celebrating the spirit of the new country. Others were created for professional or semi-professional performing dance groups. Israeli folk dancing is a popular recreational activity in Israel and has also spread over time to other countries around the world.

Israeli folk dancing is similar to country-western line dancing in the U.S. as they have both a fixed and repeating choreography or set of steps that go with a specific piece of music. A yotzer is a choreographer who selects a particular piece of music, usually Israeli, and arranges a set of steps to fit with that music. The formation of the dance might be a circle, or perhaps couples, or trios or short lines. Or it might be a group/line formation as in country-western line dancing. A dance's tempo may be fast or slow. The movements themselves are varied, with roots in the Hora, the Yemenite step, Klezmer music and dancing of Eastern European Jews, and other parts of the world from the Mizrahi and Sephardic cultures.