Dance in Israel

Dance in Israel incorporates a wide variety of dance styles, from traditional Israeli folk dancing to ballet, modern dance, ballroom dancing and flamenco.

Contemporary dance in Israel has won international acclaim. Israeli choreographers, among them Ohad Naharin and Barak Marshall are considered among the most versatile and original international creators working today.

People come from all over Israel and many other nations for the annual dance festival in Karmiel, held in July. First held in 1987, the Karmiel Dance Festival is the largest celebration of dance in Israel, featuring three or four days and nights of dancing with 5,000 or more dancers and a quarter of a million spectators in the capital of the Galilee. Begun as an Israeli folk dance event, the festivities now include performances, workshops, and open dance sessions for a variety of dance forms and nationalities. Choreographer Yonatan Karmon created the Karmiel Dance Festival to continue the tradition of Gurit Kadman's Dalia Festival of Israeli dance, which ended in the 1960s.

Famous companies and choreographers from all over the world have come to Israel to perform and give master classes. In July 2010, Mikhail Baryshnikov came to perform in Israel.

Israeli folk dancing includes folk dances such as the Hora and dances that incorporate the Yemenite step. Israeli folk dance also includes Dabke which is a Middle Eastern dance of the Levant region (Israel, Lebanon, Syria) and is a common dance done by mainly the Arab population of Israel however is a most popular dance among Israeli youth. In Hebrew Dabke is known as דבקה "Dabka" which comes from the Arabic term meaning "stomping of feet". The Dance is well down for bringing Israel-Arab culture together.

...
Wikipedia