Want to Cultivate Cultural Awareness? Just Dance!

Jul 14, 2010 | Nicole

You may know that Federation supports humanitarian causes, like fighting hunger. But we also contribute to programs that foster intercultural collaboration.

August 1-13, nearly 100 dancers, hailing from the United States, Europe, and Israel, will convene in Tel Aviv to participate in Bridge: Choreographic Dialogues. The program, which began in 2007, originated as a cultural exchange between dance students and faculty based in L.A. and Tel Aviv, as part of Federation's Tel Aviv/Los Angeles Partnership. But this year, director Barak Marshall extended the scope of Bridge by bringing in renown choreographers from France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, South Korea, and Venezuela, in addition to the U.S. and Israel.

Bridge coincides with Tel Aviv's Summer Dance Festival, a two-month run of the hottest performances in Israeli dance. As one of the perks of participating in Bridge, dancers and faculty can get free tickets to Festival shows. And, Bridge workshops have been credited with injecting a host of new ideas and influences into the burgeoning Israeli dance scene.

Beyond honing their craft, Bridge dancers and faculty experience Israel for themselves, without the filter of politics or the international news media. Barak Marshall told Dance In Israel that participants leave with a sense of "the wow of the Israeli dancer and the Israeli artist and the Israeli soul." The program is a win for participants and Israel, alike.

Bridge: Choreographic Dialogues is a program of the Jewish Federation's Tel Aviv/Los Angeles Partnership in collaboration with the Suzanne Dellal Centre, the UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance, the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures and the California Institute of the Arts.