Israeli folk dancing (IFD) is a form of dance usually performed to music from Israel, with dances generally created by people from Israel. A contemporary dancer rehearsing Dance (from Old French dancier, perhaps from Frankish) generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression (see also body language) or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ...

The exact definition of Israeli folk dancing is, surprisingly, the topic of intense global debate. The word folk has customarily been used when describing this kind of Israeli dancing, because many of the dances are of a folk style reminiscent of dances from Eastern Europe or other parts of the Middle East. But unlike traditional folk dances from other countries that have usually been handed down from previous generations to the next and are without known creators, and perhaps even without documentation related to the particulars of a given dance or even specific music, IFD has come to life approximately in conjunction with the modern State of Israel, so the oldest dances are about 60 years old. We almost always know who the creators are, and the dances are almost always associated with a specific piece of music. And new dances have been created and introduced almost continuously during those 60+ years. Current division of Europe into five (or more) regions: one definition of Eastern Europe is marked in orange Eastern Europe as a region has several alternative definitions, whereby it can denote: the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Central Europe and Russia. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

Originally, Israeli folk dances were introduced as way to create a new culture in a new land, by combining elements from other dance cultures with the music and themes of modern Israel. These dances were created specifically to be danced in Israel by Israelis, young and old, as a way of celebrating the spirit of the new country. Over time, these dances have been embraced not only in Israel but throughout the world.

If you are familiar with country-western line dancing in the U.S., you are familiar with the concept of a dance with a fixed and repeating choreography or set of steps that go with a specific piece of music, which is the basis of Israeli folk dancing. A yotzer is a dance creator who selects a particular piece of music, usually Israeli, and arranges a set of steps to fit with that music. The formation of the dance might be a circle, or perhaps couples, or trios or short lines. Or it might be a group/line formation as in country-western line dancing. The dances may be very fast-tempoed borderline-manic, or they may be by much slower and lyrical. =hiddenStructure Country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the Southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, Celtic Music, Blues, Gospel music, and Old-time music. ... A line dance is a formation dance in which a group of people dance in a line formation or in lines, and they all execute the same dance moves individually. ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ... Choreography literally dance-writing, also known as dance composition), is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ...

The movements themselves are quite varied. One might find elements with their roots in the Romanian horo, or the Arab dabke, or from traditional Yemenite life cycle celebrations, or perhaps from the Klezmer music and dancing of Eastern European Jews. Or perhaps the movements are more modern, borrowed from swing or salsa or even hip-hop. There is nothing like a good horo to go along with some upbeat folk music. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب Ê»arab) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ... Dabke (also transliterated from the Arabic as debke and dabkeh) is the traditional folk dance of the Levant, going back generations, and is also the national dance of Lebanon. ... National motto: none Official language Arabic Capital Sanaa President Ali Abdullah Saleh Prime Minister Abdul Qadir Bajamal Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 48th 527,970 km²  (203,850 mi²) Negligible Population  - Total (2005)  - Density Ranked 51st 20,727,063 37/km² (96/mi²) HDI (2003) 0. ... Klezmer (from Yiddish כלזמיר, etymologically from Hebrew kli zemer כלי זמר, vessel of song) is a musical tradition which parallels Hasidic and Ashkenazic Judaism. ...

The Global IFD Movement

The global IFD movement has gone from being something led as a hobby or a pastime by a relative few markidim (Hebrew for dance leaders) to a thriving recreational business in Israel, and to a lesser extent, a similar activity in numerous countries throughout the world. IFD has also seen the rise of numerous yotzrim (Hebrew for dance creators/choreographers) who regularly create new dances for the enjoyment of the world-wide market of Israeli folk dancers. A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. ... Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 7 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ...

Since IFD is a living, breathing organism, with new dances being introduced into the repertoire all the time, we tend to find that the dances are as likely to draw from what's happening now as opposed to elements that were introduced years ago. Unlike more traditional styles of folk dancing, the repertoire is constantly expanding, with about 200–300 new dances being introduced each year. Only a small percentage of those dances, however, seem to make it and endure throughout the years. This situation has it plusses and minuses for IFD. On the one hand, new dances help to keep things alive, interesting, and fresh. On the other hand, it also means that one has to stick with the activity on an ongoing basis in order to stay current and be able to dance what other people are dancing.

External links

• Jews in Australia.com – This website will provide links to an extensive database listing the names and yotzrim of the dances, and another that tells you how to find local dance groups.
• Israeli Dance.com – This website gives information about dance groups all over the world.
• Rokdim.co.il – This website is a commercial venture dedicated to providing the music and videos for IFD.