You may have seen Yonim, the local children’s Israeli folk dance performance troupe. But there’s another group that also gets together to folk dance in Madison – and you don’t have to get onstage to try it out.

Every Wednesday, adults, students and children meet to grapevine, triple-step and spin around the Beth Israel Center multipurpose room.

This is no Bar Mitzvah hora. Israeli pioneers hoping to cultivate a national identity started the genre with about 60 dances in the 1950s. By now, choreographers have created more than 4,500 different circle, couple and line dances set to anything from traditional Middle Eastern drum rhythms to modern Israeli rap. The burgeoning scene spawned about a dozen annual workshops around the United States and 20 in other countries, as well as a cottage industry in CDs, videos and clothing.

Cheryl Soref leads the sessions in Madison, teaching and calling out steps for those following along. She reviews three new dances over three weeks so that dancers who miss a week can still catch up.

Soref, who works as a scientist when she’s not dancing, started the group after moving here from Davis, California, in 2002. Madison used to have a recreational folk dance group before that, even before Yonim started about 15 years ago, but it had petered out when some of the most active participants moved away.

“I couldn’t imagine living in a place without a weekly session,” Soref, 44, said. “Dance is meant to be a community activity.”

The small group Soref has gathered here doesn’t come close to the dozens of dancers at her former California group who might keep going for four hours on a weeknight. But Soref has been doing this for more than 25 years, and moving to a new place wasn’t going to keep her from her passion – even if that meant building something on her own.

“I love this particular style of folk dancing,” Soref said. “This is really new, it’s live…you can meet the people who are choreographing it at camps,” Soref said. “There is the constant challenge of learning and retaining new dances, and teaching dances to my fellow dancers for everyone’s enjoyment. It’s a great discipline for mind, body and soul.”

Want to try Israeli folk dancing?

The Madison folk dance group is always open to new additions. No experience needed.
When: Wednesdays from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Teaching for the first 45 minutes followed by requests.
Where: Beth Israel Center’s multipurpose room. Enter through the parking lot door. 1406 Mound Street.
Cost: $2.00 by voluntary donation. Details: Call Cheryl at 608-848-1992.
 
Not just a hora…

The Madison Israeli folk dancers explain why they dance. Their comments have been edited for clarity and brevity.

“The dancing has helped me feel more connected to Israel, and has been an excellent way to meet people of all ages. The music and dances are beautiful. It’s the one thing that I take the time to do for myself. It’s fun, relaxing, and good exercise. And, best of all, no one makes me feel awkward because I’m not as quick of a learner and not graceful - we all just have fun together, with people of different levels.” – Ilona Rodan Ganetzky, Veterinarian, 54

“Israeli dancing is one of the real passions in my life. It is a great way to feel connected to Israel, to community and of course to music and movement! The energy in the room keeps me going the rest of the week!” – Laini Kavaloski, Lecturer at Edgewood College

“This is a good chance to be with family and friends, to exercise and have fun all at the same time. – Krysta Cadwell, 13, 7th grade student.

“I just love Israeli music (including klezmer, my favorite), and I love dancing to it. I believe it actually makes one happy with all the dance movements, and, of course, the mesmerizing music, not to mention the exercise (whew!).” – Maureen Ross, 54, medical records worker.

“I only started learning Israeli dance this summer, and I love it. It’s a great workout with great people and a patient and fun teacher.” – Denise Mirkin

“We smile constantly, and as long as we continue walking no one cares if we did a Yemenite step or a grapevine.” – Hagit Vardi.

“Wednesdays are days we look forward to the whole week.” – Jill Turnbull, high school student.

“We started coming to Israeli dancing at Beth Israel last fall because our children wanted to learn how to folkdance. However, it quickly became a family night out that none of us would miss! We were surprised that the dances were so contemporary; not what we had done years ago, but dances currently being done in Israel. Cheryl keeps the music flowing song after song - you have to take your own breaks. It’s great exercise because it’s continuous, but not strenuous.” – Lori Pierick