Folk dancing, an old Israeli tradition (archives)
Photo: Zoltan Kluger, GPO
Independence marked with folk dancing
Israeli celebrators pay special tribute to cultural history of modern Jewish state
VIDEO – On Israel's
Independence Day,
revellers are marking the celebration with dancing as a way of paying special tribute to the history of the modern Jewish state, which is now a proud 65-year-old.
Video courtesy of jn1.tv
The Israeli folk dance was created in then-Palestine in the 1920s by a Romanian immigrant, and mixes other styles from Yemen, Europe and the Bedouin. It has since been developed and fine-tuned, while retaining its unique Israeli flavor, and is now attracting worldwide support.
According to Israeli folk dance choreographer Gadi Bitton, "If you go to Japan and do Israeli dancing, if you go to Los Angeles, if you go to China, you are doing the same steps for the same song created in Israel for Israelis and Jewish people."
The celebrations mark the declaration of the state of Israel in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948, and the end of the British Mandate of Palestine.
The dancing is said to be linked to the fact that after Israel was signed into statehood, jubilant dancers were seen taking to the streets to mark the occasion.
