Shabbat Song List 7/29/2017

Practice these dances:

1. Mayim, Mayim  ............................................ ..  (Level 1)
2. Psalm 150 ....................................................... (Level 1)
3. Dodi Li (song)  ................................................. (Level 2)
4. Holy (song)  >> Dance: Sovevuni (adapted).... (Level 2)
5. No Longer Slaves ..........................................  (Level 1)

If we have a lot of dancers, please form circles around the dance guides dancing in the center.

A Quick Note About Levels:

Level Intro/ABC .................... Very Easy
Level 1 .................................. Easy
Level 2 .................................. Challenging
Level 3 .................................. Very Challenging

IFD Community Dancing

This week, I want to give you a quick peek into an Israeli Folk Dance (IFD) gathering at one of the many community centers throughout Israeli cities. When I (Joy) used to live in Israel, I would attend one of the community dance centers in my area. Once a week, there would be a community dance practice in most communities and the dance hall would always fill up with people dancing in circles or lines. The admission fee was cheap, at the time, 7 shekels (about $2) per evening. It was so much fun!

During national celebration holidays and on a few Biblical holy days, something similar would happen outside in the streets of Jerusalem. There would be joyful Israeli music blaring and hundreds of people walking in the streets. Suddenly, one group would start dancing and then dance would start breaking out all over the place as groups of people formed circles. It was amazing!

This video is very short, only a little over one minute. But it gives you a great sense of the atmosphere of Jewish community dancing. Here they are dancing to one of my favorite songs, "Eretz Nehederet" (A Wonderful Country.) Enjoy!

Here is an example of Jewish community dancing in the streets.

Until tomorrow!

Worship Song List for Shabbat 7/22/2017

Practice these dances:

1. The Ransomed of the Lord (song)  ................  (Level 1)
2. He Is My Defense (song) ................................. (Level 1)
3. Dodi Li (song)  ................................................. (Level 2)
4. Holy (song)  >> Dance: Sovevuni (adapted).... (Level 2)
5. Shabbat Shalom  ............................................  (Level Intro/ABC)

If we have a lot of dancers, please form circles around the dance guides dancing in the center.

A Quick Note About Levels:

Level Intro/ABC .................... Very Easy
Level 1 .................................. Easy
Level 2 .................................. Challenging
Level 3 .................................. Very Challenging

A Modern-Day Israeli Folk Dance (IFD) Group

This week we are featuring an IFD Group from Haifa called Yuvalim Haifa. Here they are performing a merge of three types of dances: A women's, a men's, and a couples dance. So, you get to see three in one!

See you on Shabbat!

Worship Songs 7/8/2017

Dance practice list for this coming Shabbat:

1. Hoshiana (Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord) song ..... (Level Intro/ABC)
2. Psalm 150 ................................................. (Level 1)
3. Mayim, Mayim ........................................... (Level 1)
4. Dodi Li (song) ............................................ (Level 2 - NEW!)
5. Holy (song)  >> Sovevuni adapted ............ (Level 2)

BY Dance Website Is Moving!

Hello my fellow worship dancers,

ALERT: In the coming weeks or months (depending on how long the transition takes,) ONE OR ANOTHER VIDEO WILL BECOME TEMPORARILY INACCESSIBLE TO YOU!

Up until now, I have been hosting our Beth Yeshua Dance Ministry Blog at my Lessons From Heaven Google account. But both ministry wesites are growing and will need their dedicated, individual space; a place to continue growing.

Also, peeking into the future, I believe that this website (which I designed to serve our Beth Yeshua community,) is to be easily transferred, down the road, into the hands of those who will be taking on the leadership of BY's dance ministry. It is to be a model that others can build upon and change as needed, when my time as Beth Yeshua's dance leader comes to an end.

The transition from one space to another will take time because it is not enough to just move the blog and the files, but I also have to move the videos. It is these videos that will take the most time to move. Downloading and re-uploading videos is very time-consuming. To not disrupt too much your access to our video library on YouTube, I will be transferring just one video at a time. Because of this process, please note that YOU MAY NOT ALWAYS BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE DANCE VIDEO YOU WANT TO REVIEW.

My focus will be to only move the dance videos of the dances we do not need to practice for an upcoming Shabbat worship service.

Happy dancing!

Songs for Shabbat 7/1/2017

Dance practice list for upcoming Shabbat:

In the Presence of Your People (The Celebration Song)  >> Nigun/Zemer Atik ...... (Level 1)
Dance with Me ...... (Level 2)
Oh Give Thanks ...... (Level 1)
Walk in the Promise (song)  >> Boker ...... (Level 3)
God of Our Fathers (song)  >>  Sulam Ya'akov + 4 Corners...... (Level 2)

Video of Jewish Wedding Bottle Dance

This dance became famous thanks to the movie Fiddler On The Roof (one of my favorite Jewish movies.) This dance shows the Eastern European influence on Chassidic dancing tradition. The setting for the movie is Russia, 1905. Today, the Wedding Bottle Dance is still being performed but now by a new generation of Jewish men. Hope you like!

Shabbat Songlist 6/24/2017

Practice these dances:

1. Walk in the Promise (song) >> Boker ..... (Level 3)
2. Baruch Haba ..... (Level 2)
3. Oh Lord, You're Beautiful (dance: coming soon! song)  ..... (Intro Level / Level ABC)
4. Rejoice O Zion ..... (Intro / ABC)
5. Amidah (Blessed Are You) .....  (Level 1)

Maybe also:

1. Kadosh (song) .....(Level 2)
2. Hine Ma Tov .....(Level 1)

If we have a lot of dancers, please form circles around the dance guides dancing in the center.

A Quick Note About Levels:

Level Intro/ABC ..................... Very Easy
Level 1 .................................. Easy
Level 2 .................................. Challenging
Level 3 .................................. Very Challenging


Check out this video of IFD Group Shalom in the 80's

This Israeli dance group toured in the 80's and 90's. I used to have a VHS of a video collage of their dance tours and dances. I played the video so much that it eventually died! Shalom dance group was amazing! The video showed how modern day IFD (=Israeli folk dances) incorporates many of the dance styles of countries where the Jewish people had lived in exile and were returning from.This is why modern day IFD does not only reflect its Middle-Eastern roots but also reflects influences of folk dances from all around the world: Europe (including chassidic and orthodox styles), Asia, Latin America, North America (includes country line dancing), and Africa.

Folk dancing is about community, about rejoicing in unity and brotherhood, not about romance or sensuality. This is why I believe that modern day IFD also serves as a great dance-worship expression for peoples everywhere! Every culture and every church that I have had the privilege of introducing IFD to, as a means of dance worship, has received it well and enjoyed it.

The video below shows the Eastern-European influences in Israeli folk dancing. Relax and enjoy!

I want to know how you like worshiping with IFD. Share in the comments below.

Rejoice O Zion

Please excuse the video quality. I will eventually update this video because it was done using the Marco Polo app on my cellphone. For now, this is the best I've got. It was the quickest way of recording it for Ali. (The normal recordings take time.) The app records movement in the opposite; meaning, when the video shows me going left, I'm actually going right. So, keep this in mind when you practice.

Also, we also do this dance as a processional, meaning, always moving forward and never switching sides. To do this, instead of doing a closed mayim (to switch sides), we do an open mayim (to keep going in the same direction.) That's all!

This is an Intro/ABC level dance. And REMEMBER: I'm moving in the OPPOSITE direction!

Rejoice greatly, people of God!