Pirouetting on the front lines
IDF forms dance troupe to fight draft dodging
In bid to prevent talented dancers from dodging army service, IDF decides to set up dance group that will allow teens to pursue their vocation in uniform
In an effort to fight the spreading phenomenon of draft dodging, the IDF has decided to form a military dance troupe that would allow outstanding dancers to continue pursuing their vocation within the army.
Artful Dodgers
Meir Turgeman
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The troupe is the initiative of prominent dancers and choreographers David Dvir and Ido Tadmor. "Talented dancers do not enlist in the army and leave the country for a career or studies abroad," Dvir explained.
"Unlike exceptional athletes, an outstanding dancer needs to be in a supportive environment constantly, and the arrangement that had existed so far – of service that allowed limited time to dance - hurt their career," he added.
"Therefore, many of them decided not to enlist and we felt that an entire generation of dancers was slipping through our fingers."
Dvir and Tadmor met last week with chief officer of the IDF Education and Youth Corps, Brigadier General Eli Shermayster, and presented him with the idea.
According to their plan, pre-service dancers wishing to join the troupe will undergo auditions held by senior dancers. Those who are admitted to the group will go
through basic training and then return to the IDF's physical training base at Wingate where they will serve.The troupe will rehearse together, hold dance workshops at IDF bases, perform before troops and represent the army at official events in Israel and abroad.
