Summary of the Forums July 2011 This summary is dedicated to the Karmiel Dance Festival: experiences, dances, achievements, and conclusions. The 2011 Karmiel Dance Festival is now behind us. It was a celebration of non-stop dancing with the best instructors from all over the country and over 5,000 participants from Israel and around the world, not to mention the many and varied dance performances staged throughout the Karmiel Festival. The complete program may be seen at Link. The opening performance was truly impressive. "On the Grass," a tribute to 60 years of IDF performing troupes, was performed by 2,000 dancers. They were joined by guest artists such as Yehoram Gaon, The Reim Duo, Ofira Gluska, Harel Skaat, Sharon Haziz, Dorit Reuveni, IDF troupes, and others. Link. The following link is a view of the closing performance. Link. Here is a link to photos of some performances and dance sessions taken by Alex Huber. Link. Additional pictures can be found on the Irgun Harokdim / Dancers Organization website, Link or on Facebook at Link. A short synopsis of the rest of the performances can be found in Achbar B'Ir. Link, Link. As in past years, there were two main areas, the Rabin Center and the Festival locale which includes the tennis court and the Sports Center/Community Center. The sessions took place as advertised in the schedule and as coordinated with the dance instructors and with the assistance of the leader of the Dance Instructors Organization, Victor Gabay, and the Chairman of the Festival Committee, Ilan Swisa. The sessions were varied, for example, there were alternating couple sets, sessions for women only, workshops with choreographers, dances for IDF Troupes, ballroom dancing, salsa dancing, and more. Some of the sessions were lively and energetic, while others were quieter and more relaxed, such as the session of Yemenite style dances led by Eyal Levi and Nissim Fintz which was captured on film by Edwin. Link. Another energetic dance session titled, “Debka for the Serious Dancer,” was led by Etti Mouda, Tamir Shalev and Irit Schwartz. Link. Avner Naim led a workshop of his most memorable dances including Ani Ma'amin, Ki Leolam Chasdo, Tfilati (Vhu Yoshieni), Eretz Nehederet, and many other great dances. Link. Here is Avi Perez at his workshop: Link. A tribute to Motti Elfasy z"l, "On Wings of Silver," was a dance session with the emphasis on his dances. It took place in his memory with the participation of his son Yaron and nephew Ofer. The event included many of his classic dances: Al Kanfei Hakesef, Eretz Ahuva, Shalom Lach Eretz Nehederet, Simona Midimona, Kan Badarom, and of course, Laila Badarom. Link. There was also a special workshop in memory of Jonathan Gabay. There were sessions with themes, i.e., "To the IDF with Love " – songs of the IDF song troupes such as Haska, Halahaka, Herzl, Golani Sheli, Prachim Bakane, and others such as the line dance, Shir Lashalom, and of course the memorable dance for triplets, Machar. Link. There were dances based on biblical sources: Sulam Ya’acov (Malach Misulam Ya’akov), Haleluya, Ilan, and others. Link. View the nightly nostalgia session at the sports center: Link. Another particularly moving dance session was for dancers in wheel chairs. It was held at the tennis court and Gadi Bitton was a participant. Link. To read about the inspiring performance in the amphitheater, use the following links: Link, Link. There was a celebration for Eliahu Gamliel's 86th birthday. Link. Most of the clips were filmed and edited by Edwin. Thank you, Edwin. As in previous years, the Oshri Haver z"l Folk Dance Competition was held during the course of the festival. Link. The three top winners were: Third place: Lefetah, a couple’s dance by Gila Paz Second place: Tango Leshnayim, couple’s dance by Marco Ben Shimon First place: Yesh Ba Mashehu, a couple’s dance by Elad Shtamer. Elad accepted the prize from Noam Haver, Oshri's father. You may view the winning dance: Link. It is well known by now that the presence of the Dancers' Organization is a given at every Karmiel Festival. Several of its leaders, Adi, Harry, Vered, Atara, Eitan, Irit, Gila, Ziva, Hadas, appeared at the Organization's booth; here people asked questions, showed interest, searched for information and/or came simply to show support and to see the faces behind the name, "The Dancers Organization." In addition to the regular on-going activities at the booth, the Irgun Harokdim brought to the forefront the pressing issue of lowering the volume of the music at the local dance sessions; they prepared flyers, stickers, and explanations of the damage caused by the high volume of music. One reason for these actions was so no one could say,"We didn't know!" The subject received tremendous support by the population of dancers at the festival. Much effort is going into raising the awareness of the harmful effects of the loud volume of music. At the forefront of this battle is Adi Habad; he compiled and brought with him comprehensive and easy to understand information regarding the potential harm caused by loud music. Information of the efforts being made by the Dancers Organization can be read in the Organization's website. The responses to the group’s efforts point to the fact that the problem is universal and a dialogue on the subject has been opened on Facebook, as well. Special thanks to Adi and all the members of the Organization for their efforts in this matter. Link. Where there any youth at the festival? From what I could see, yes, there were indeed! Many young people could be seen in the area and they were also evident dancing on the roller court. Others disagree with this view and believe that the festival is becoming a festival for adults only. Link. Another new service of the Irgun Harokdim at the festival is called, "Keeping in Touch," Say, you met and danced with the girl of your dreams during the festival, but she disappeared without leaving her email address. You can now look for other dancers and partners using the Dancers Organization website: Link. At the request of the Organization dancers were asked to give feedback about the festival. Link. There were also many complaints about the performances, the lack of accuracy in the programs, delays, last minute changes and more. Link. Some areas of concern were: Sand - the sand on the tennis court is a continuing debate; even though the sand was a good quality, dancers complained of burning in their eyes, while others were quite pleased with the sand solution. Perhaps by next year an alternative will be found –a good quality PVC or parquet floor? Can the roller court be made usable by resurfacing and creating proper shade? A better distribution of the dance sessions throughout the festival is needed; this year the programming for Wednesday was too light and Thursday was over-programmed. Delayed performances and unannounced changes in the programs were frustrating and almost comical. The choreography competition was delayed by 45 minutes, the opening ceremony by half an hour, at least, and the Oshri Haver Competition began 50 minutes past its scheduled time. The "performers" from Georgia were discovered to be foreign workers and had to be replaced by a local dance group, and the Romanian dancers were actually from Hungary. Tickets - the tickets for the opening show, which were pre-ordered online, weren't waiting at the box office, and it took an hour to get them. Why can’t the tickets come via the internet? Planning the schedule- is it a good idea and/or advisable to involve the dancers or at least their representatives in planning the dance session schedules? The dancers are asking to have their voices heard. Themed sessions - themed dance sessions or sessions honoring a particular choreographer are a great idea, but why repeat the same type of session and honor the same choreographer year after year? There is no lack of themes or choreographers; why not diversify? Dance genres – what is the place of salsa, tango, hip-hop, etc. in the Karmiel Festival? Should this be a festival for only Israeli folk dancing? There are conflicting opinions; it's a shame that there's no mechanism to record the number of people weighing in on the matter. Rabin Hall - there's been a request to bring in food booths particularly at the Rabin Hall, as well as to add more places to sit and eat. Bathrooms - the bathrooms broke down - even at the Rabin Center. We must add more sanitary facilities, perhaps portable toilets, near the Rabin Center and the Community Center. The lack of sanitary conditions is obvious. Why aren't there sanitation workers active throughout the day? Budgeting? Really! Shuttles to the Rabin Center – the number of them needs to be increased and the time schedule needs better supervision in order to facilitate the movement of dancers between the different halls. Assignment of session to facilities - some sessions were pretty empty and others were filled to capacity; using attendance information from this festival, it might be wise to move the crowded sessions to a larger hall, such as Rabin. Women Only Dance Sessions - is this relevant at the Karmiel Dance Festival or should it be separate? Can we accommodate their wishes and concentrate this type of sessions in one day? This year they came all the way to Karmiel for only one hour. Every year, the Dancers Organization compiles all the comments, complaints, and requests of the participants and presents an organized report to the festival administration. Let's hope we'll see attention given to the matters listed above which will result in improvements to an already outstanding Karmiel Dance Festival. Many thanks to all those involved in working on the festival, as mentioned in Tapuz by Iris: Link. And I'd like to add my own personal thanks to all the photographers; with their help we've been able to document the festival. Many thanks go to Alex Huber, Edwin, and to numerous anonymous photographers. We'll meet again in Karmiel next year for the 25th anniversary of the Festival; to mark the occasion, there will be an extended program of 5 days and nights! Mark the date! August 5, 2012 Link. Written by Givaa Tlula; Translated by Arin Poller.