AV I R A H January 2018

Who we are
A virah is the
University of
Marylands premiere
organization in
which members
enjoy dancing and
Israeli dance troupe. spending time
After six years on hiatus, together. The troupe
members came together also wants to engage
and reestablished the the community with
troupe in 2013. Avirah performances and
performs at cultural open dance sessions.
events on campus and Every year, Avirah
other events in the tries to reach out to
region, such as Israeli new audiences by
dance festivals in Boston posting flyers and
and Washington. Group picture of Avirah (By Hannah Weissman) hosting bake sales.

Avriahs dancers choreograph
their own routines for their
performances. For other
events, they do Harkadah,
which is the communal form of
Israeli dance that anyone can
participate in.
Most of Avirahs members
grew up doing Israeli dance in
their summer camps or Jewish
schools. High schoolers in the
DC area have their own troupe
and perform in the festival with
Avirah. The troupe encourages
these students to join the
troupe if they choose to study at
Maryland. Other members had
no previous experience, and
they were welcomed with open
arms.
Avirahs seeks to create
a community within the
This is an aspect of Judaism
that other people might not be
aware of and it feels really great
to be really proud and share it
with people, said Mira Tash,
the internal foundations chair.
In the fall semester, Avirah
added nine new members and
is looking forward to the rest of
the years events.

Avirah Israeli Dance Troupe Table of Contents

Co-Presidents: Jessica Morris &
Adina Schwartz Introduction.......................................1
Artistic Director: Hannah Weisman
Treasurer: Ariana Kigner Information/News..............................2
Internal Foundations: Mira Tash Spotlights..........................................3
Rikudei Tzav Chair: Aliza Silverman
Upcoming Events..............................4
Editor: Michal Antonov

1
The power of bake sales
If you pass
by McKeldin
Library, chances
who may not
be able to
spare $5, $7,
also sell them at
McKeldin.

are that you are $8 to contribute While Avirah

going to run into what they can does not depend
an Avirah bake to our troupe, on bake sales
sale. said Mira Tash, as much as it
the internal used to, troupe
Avirah likes foundations chair members
to have its who organizes continue to have
bake sales the sales. them because
at McKeldin they like the
because of the In addition to the opportunity to
heavy foot traffic. usual bake sales, interact with
The troupe Avirah also the campus
takes care of partners with community while
getting the tables Krispy Kreme selling the baked
and all other for fundraising. goods.
requirements. The troupe
requests orders Avirah runs
The troupe hosts a few weeks in at least two
pay what you advance and bake sales a
can bake sales, then place them semester. All the
in which students through Krispy profits the troupe
can pay what Kreme. Avirah makes go toward
they can afford. then delivers the the trip to the
doughnuts to Boston Israeli
I see it as a whoever placed Dance Festival
way for people an order. They in the spring.

The choreographing process

C oming up with routines for
Avirah is not an easy task.
But Hannah Weissman and
until they are ready to
perform.

Adina Schwartz, the artistic Weissman and

directors, have an efficient
process.
1. Listen to songs they want
to use.
2. Identify moves and match
them to the music
3. Place dancers in positions
using paperclips and
markers, and then repeat
the process until the final
routine is done.
The troupe learns and practices
the routine over and over again
Schwartz said they
face challenges. For
example, they can get
stuck on trying to fit
steps into a routine.
They either have to
figure out how too it these steps Its another form of conveying
or start over. feelings and emotions
through art, said Weissman.
Despite these challenges, Its challenging to teach
Weissman and Schwartz the choreography because
expressed that they enjoy their everyone learns at a different
positions. pace, but it eventually all comes
together. 2
Event Spotlight
Rikudei Tzav

If youre interested
in learning Israeli
dance, then
to the dance
sessions.

Rikudei Tzav, I like that people

Avirahs open walk away
Israeli dance understanding
session, is the what Israeli dance
event for you. actually is, as its
something we
Aliza Silverman, get asked all the
the Rikudei Tzav time, and it can be
Chair, plans a list difficult to explain,
of dances before said Silverman
every session when asked what
that isnt too her favorite parts
Avirah members and others participate in Harkadah (by Aliza Silverman)
complicated and about this event
wouldnt be too are. The other is
difficult for people to learn. Avirahs main participants for that people walk away having
Some of these dances are these sessions are students. had a good time and wanting
fully taught, and other have Sometimes a few Hillel staff to come back.
the moves called out. She members like to come as well
sometimes chooses dances because Avirah holds the Anyone is welcome to come
that were done before so that sessions at Hillel. However, the to Rikudei Tzav. No previous
people who are familiar with word has spread around more experience with Israeli dance
them and help others. this year and more people are is necessary.
expressing interest in coming

Member Spotlight
Jessica Morris
Picture of Morris (by
Tauby Minz)
J essica Morris, junior, is
one of the co-presidents
of Avirah. She is originally
from Pittsburgh and majors in
English.
Morris joined Avirah in her
freshman year. She wanted
to join something on campus
that had ties with the Jewish
community. Morris had some
previous experience with
Israeli dance. Her camp would
dance every Saturday night
after the end of Shabat. She
became treasurer her second
semester freshman year and
became co-president with
Adina Schwartz this year.
As co-president, Morris
oversees what everybody
else in the troupe does and
coordinates logistics, such
as scheduling performances.
Morris also currently runs
most of the troupes social
media, such as Facebook and
Instagram.
Morris enjoys the time she
spends in Avirah. She loves
rehearsing and performing
because she gets to dance
with her friends. Morris also
loves being in the troupe
because she gets to spread
joy to the community and teach
others about an aspect of
Israeli culture.
3
Performing in the Boston festival
E very year, Avirah
travels north to
participate in the Boston
Israeli Dance Festival.
It is the oldest Israeli
dance festival on the East
Coast.
Avirah begins
preparations for the
festival after auditions.
This year, Hannah
Weissman and Adina
Schwartz choreographed
a routine called Lakum
Avirah performs at last years Boston festival (by Ariana Kigner)
that is a mixture of three
songs: Kzat Meshuga,
Bat Zonania and Balagan.
Members are now learning the
final one.
During preparations, Avirah
sends the festival committee
videos of the choreography
process. The committee
watches these videos to
make sure troupes with
similar dances do not perform
close together. Each troupe
is allowed to do only one
dance, but thats not the only
performance they do.
We all do the opening of the
show together and then the
finale together. Its a great
chance for us to interact with
other troupes and make
friends, said Jessica Morris.
Its also a chance for us
to learn new choreography
because the opening and
the finale are different
dances.
For Avirah, participating
in the festival is an all-
weekend event. The
troupe travels together on
Friday before Shabbas
begins to respect
religious practices. On
Saturday, members who
dont keep Shabbas take
the time to rest or explore
Boston. In the evening,
the troupe goes together
to a big Israeli dance party
with the other participating
troupes. On Sunday, Avirah
rehearses all day and then
performs in the festival.
The 42nd annual Boston
Israeli Dance Festival will
take place on March 18 in
new the Kresge Auditorium at the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.

Upcoming Events

FEB MAR MAR

17
Rikudei Tzav
11
Boston Israeli
18
DC Israeli
UMD Hillel Dance Festival Dance Festival

Keep Calm and Israeli Dance On

@AvirahUMD @avirahumd @avirahumd