Bat-Dor Dance Research Paper

Throughout the history of the Jewish people, dance has been an expression of joy. In the Bible, it says that King David danced before G-d. The Bible describes his dancing as leaping, jumping, skipping, going around and dancing in circles. An ancient Jewish book, the Mishna, describes folk dancing as an important part of celebrations, such as bride-choosing ceremonies, weddings, and the holidays of Sukkos, Purim, and Simchas Torah.
In eighteenth century Eastern Europe, a new Jewish movement called Hassidism, was founded by Israel B. Eliezer Ba'al Shem Tov. He believed that “the dances of the Jew before his Creator are prayers” and that Jews “should use dance to attain religious enthusiasm and devotion” (Buxbaum 487). This dance was done in a …show more content…
This helped modernize Israeli dance. Today, dance has various influences. Typically, dances incorporate spirituality with popular culture. Currently, there are six major dance companies in Israel. Inbal Dance Theater was founded in 1949 and is the first and oldest modern dance company in Israel. This dance company follows more traditional and biblical styles of dance. Batsheva Dance Company, which was founded in 1964, is a leading contemporary dance company. This dance company has a more modern influence. Bat-Dor Dance Company had many modern dance influences. Additionally, they had many international choreographers. The Bat-Dor dance company closed in 2006. Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company is a smaller company in Israel. There is also the Israel Ballet. It was founded in 1968 and is the country's only professional classical ballet company. This company performs both the classical ballet style as well as the neo-classical style of ballet. Finally, there is Kol Demama (which translates to Sound and Silence) which was founded in 1978. This very unique dance company has both deaf and hearing dancers. They utilize floor vibrations and facial expressions in the

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