Dance

Noami Leaf Halpern performing with a basket on her head

March 9, 2021

From the Archive: Photograph of Dancer Noami Leaf Halpern

Carole Renard

The Yiddish Book Center shares a photo of dancer Noami Leaf Halpern from their archive.

Topics: Dance

March 10, 2020

Seamstresses, Shop Girls... and Ballet Dancers?

Melissa R. Klapper

Ballet is not the first thing that comes to mind when we think of early-twentieth century Jewish American life. And yet...

Topics: Dance

November 7, 2018

Growing Up Jewish

Lila Zinner

I made the decision to continue Hebrew school after seventh grade when my friends informed me that they signed up because it “sounded fun.” That decision, although not well thought out, was one of the best choices I’ve ever made.

Topics: Jewish Education, Dance, Spirituality and Religious Life, Synagogues/Temples

Tanya Segal

As the first full-time female rabbi in Poland, Tanya Segal has creatively transformed Jewish life in the historic city of Krakow, the site of previous revolutions in Jewish thought and practice.

Gurit Kadman

Gurit Kadman earned fame as a pioneer of Israeli folk dancing. Born Gertrude Lowenstein, Kadman joined the Wandervogel, a youth movement that focused on German folk culture.

Irina Jacobson

Hailed as one of the great Soviet ballerinas, Irina Pevzner Jacobson followed her dance career by becoming the authority on staging nineteenth- and twentieth-century Romantic and Classical ballets.

Hilde Holger

Hilde Sofer Holger’s choreography incorporated her interest in religion, politics, and the natural world, and provoked important discussions about the role of dance in the public sphere.

Hanna Stiebel

Hanna Nosovsky Stiebel used her background in dance to create graceful, dynamic outdoor sculpture installations.

Performance of Elizabeth Swados' "Sosua" at the United Nations General Assembly

February 10, 2016

Dare to Dance Together: 1940, 2011, and Today

Eliana Gayle-Schneider

Tony nominated playwright Elizabeth Swados raised our consciousness; she opened our eyes and dared us all to dance. Swados gave much to the world: theater, the gift of herself, one who constantly seeks truth and justice, and a strong female leader. Liz Swados also impacted my life in a very personal way- she taught me the meaning of community.

Topics: Holocaust, Dance, Theater

Rosa Eskenazi

Noted singer Roza Eskenazi enjoyed a second flowering of her career when Greek youth began a revival of traditional music in the 1970s.

Liz Lerman

Hailed by the New York Times as “One of the most articulate and compassionate of social commentators in the arts today,” choreographer Liz Lerman has drawn inspiration from such unlikely sources as the US defense budget and a Department of Energy report on nuclear waste.

Oshra Elkayam-Ronen

One of the most important choreographers of Israeli movement theater, Oshra Elkayam-Ronen distinguished herself by approaching stories from unusual angles, such as a feminist retelling of the story of Adam and Eve.

Yardena Cohen

Incorporating biblical themes and Sephardic music into her dances, Yardena Cohen helped create a uniquely Israeli artistic culture.

Lonnie Zarum Schaffer

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Lonnie Zarum Schaffer stepped up to lead her struggling Modern Orthodox synagogue, Anshe Sfard, rebuild themselves even better than before.

Deborah Bertonoff

From her debut at age nine through her performances in her late seventies and teaching into her late eighties, Deborah Bertonoff made dance her life’s work.

Beate Sirota Gordon

Through diplomacy and ingenuity, twenty-two-year-old Beate Sirota Gordon wrote unprecedented rights for women into Japan’s post-war constitution.

Tatjana Barbakoff

The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Russian Jewish father, Tatjana Barbakoff used her mixed heritage as inspiration for stunning and innovative dance performances.

Mia Arbatova

Told first by her parents that dancing was immodest and then by Israeli settlers that dancing was bourgeois, Mia Arbatova defied her critics and became a pioneer of ballet in Israel.

Sydney Taylor

Sydney Taylor’s famous and beloved All-of-a-Kind Family series of children’s books were almost left unpublished and forgotten.

Helen Tamiris

Acclaimed choreographer and director Helen Tamiris used dance to comment on the social issues of her day, including racism, poverty, and war.

Death of Susan Braun, dance archivist

October 3, 1995

Artist Susan Braun made an about-face in her career in the art world and began to fill the need of documenting dance on film.

Death of Estelle Joan Sommers, “Empress of Dance”

March 21, 1994

"I have always cherished my family, Israel and dance." - Estelle Joan Sommers

Jean Rosenthal

Jean Rosenthal was a pioneer in theater lighting design, finding new aesthetics for dance performances, theater productions, and even airports.

Margalit Oved

Dancer and choreographer Margalit Oved’s performances blended elements from many cultures, including the Yemen of her childhood, the Israel of her adolescence, and the Los Angeles of her adulthood.

Marlee Matlin

Marlee Matlin made history in 1986 as both the youngest actress to win an Academy Award for Best Leading Actress and the first deaf person to win the award.

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