Nira Paaz, the founder and director of the Mia Arbatova Competition, began her career as a student in the studios of Gertrude Kraus and Mia Arbatova, and for thirty years appeared as soloist with some of the most prestigious dance companies in Israel and the world. She organized the educational performances of Bat-Sheva 2 and taught in the Bikkurei ha-Ittim Dance Center in Tel Aviv and the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem.
Told first by her parents that dancing was immodest and then by Israeli pioneers that dancing was bourgeois, Mia Arbatova defied her critics and became a pioneer of ballet in Israel. Her efforts produced three generations of distinguished dancers and her studio achieved international respect in the world of dance.
