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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| Locals gather inside Holmes Hall at the Claremont Center for Spiritual Living in Claremont for an evening of Israeli folk dancing. |
Monday night dancing: Israeli folk dancing course well received in Claremont
A group of 6 people dance in a circle. Thirty minutes later, the circle grows to 14 and the atmosphere becomes livelier than before.
One hour later, the group of people are laughing, dancing and enjoying themselves without a care of anything else as the Israeli Folk Dancing class continues within Holmes Hall at the Claremont Center for Spiritual Living on Monday night.
“It is about enjoying yourself,” said Yael Steinfeld, who is the teacher of the class. “If you teach too much, then you miss out on the joy of it. I also give a little bit of culture as well.”
Though the music and dancing within the class is classified as “Israel folk dancing,” the unique style also has an assortment of different influences, which also includes Russian, Greek, Middle Eastern and more. Students danced, clapped and stepped to Israeli tunes such as “Od Lo Ahavti Dai,” “Eretz Eretz” and “Jacob’s Ladder” during the 3-hour session on Monday.
The upbeat nature of the dancing is what keeps Banning resident Shira Rister coming out to Claremont each Monday. According to Ms. Rister, the Claremont Center for Spiritual Living is the closest location she knows of that provides what she is looking for.
“I’ve been doing Israeli folk dancing for 45 years,” she said. “The culture is joyous, exciting and it feels good. It’s happy music. You can have all the problems in the world but when you come onto the dance floor, all the problems go away.”
From 7-10 p.m. each Monday, Israeli folk dance enthusiasts come together in Holmes Hall to participate in the dancing experience that emphasizes fun and togetherness more so than learning steps to the music. Yet the participants do learn as well with the first hour of the class being geared toward beginners and the final 2 hours leaning more toward a freestyle experience.
Though the dancing and music featured are of an Israeli nature, the majority of the students do not have an Israeli background. But that won’t stop the group from embracing the art of Israeli folk dancing and enjoying every moment of the Monday night experience that includes constant movement and high-energy environment.
“This is a dance community,” said Les Slifkin, who attends on Monday nights with his wife Loretta. “It’s a lot of fun and you meet nice people. The exercise is good, too.” (story continues below)
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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| Locals gather inside Holmes Hall at the Claremont Center for Spiritual Living in Claremont for an evening of Israeli folk dancing. |
Israeli folk dancing is not just something that Ms. Steinfeld teaches, it is a significant part of her life. Growing up in a kibbutz community—a communal settlement in Israel—she started dancing at an early age, as was the case for many of the children she grew up with.
“Music and song are a very big part of my soul,” Ms. Steinfeld said. “It was a big part of my upbringing.”
Before coming to Claremont, Ms. Steinfeld led a children’s Israeli folk dancing group in Ohio. When she began the Israeli folk dancing class in Claremont 4 years ago, the location was at the Joslyn Senior Center before being switched to a Jewish temple in Montclair and then finally resting at the Claremont Center for Spiritual Living this past January.
Currently the class has around 60 people on the list with approximately 20 students usually coming together at one time. Class attendee Suzy Gomes believes there is plenty of room for more people to join.
“This is a nice group and we definitely want to encourage more people to come,” Ms. Gomes said. “In Los Angeles, they have larger groups but here, Yael is very patient and you will learn more in a shorter amount of time than you would there.”
Whether a person is a regular dancer or has never danced at all, the class at heart is not about a person’s talent level. Instead, the class focuses on bringing a fun Israeli folk dancing experience to the public.
Claremont resident Susan Winderman has been attending the course on a regular basis the past few months and keeps coming back due to the overall experience each Monday night brings to her.
“It’s a great class and everybody is nice,” she said.
The Israeli Folk Dancing class is open to the community and meets each Monday from 7-10 p.m. The cost is $5 per session.
For more information on the Israeli Folk Dancing class, call 624-3549.
—Landus Rigsby
