Shemesh Karmiel Dance Company Participated in the Dance Festival in Ashdod

By Yasmin ESKİNAZİ

Translation by Janet MITRANI

This summer just like every year, after our show [in Istanbul] as the Shemesh team, we participated in a dance festival in Israel. While we had been participating in the Karmiel Dance Festival for the last 15 years, this year we participated in the 'AshdoDance' Festival. I should say that I was proud that we were the only international dance team at the festival. Being able to represent the Shemesh Dance Company abroad is priceless and we were proud to be active abroad and share our work as the Turkish Jewish Community. During the festivals, we have a lot of fun as the whole team, big or small, and we bond even tighter.

AshdoDance is a comprehensive dance festival organized in Ashdod, Israel since 2016, where many different styles of dance are displayed. At the four-day-long festival, various activities and rehearsals take place during the day. A very big show is performed on the first night of the festival.

This year the show featured Noa Kirel who won third place for Israel in the Eurovision song contest, many popular Israeli singers such as Benaia Barabi and Narkis, and world-renowned dance groups. To be able to share the same stage with especially Noa Kirel, watching their dance performances, and being a part of the show was an amazing experience.

In the show, we performed the dance titled 'Casablanca' as choreographed by our Art Director Shlomo Maman. Before the festival, we had practiced in Istanbul. Later when we arrived in Ashdod, we came together with the Tel Aviv University Dance Company (TAU) to perform the dance together. During the rehearsals, we got to meet TAU's dancers thus making new friends from different countries.

Being able to go to festivals abroad is a source of motivation for us, as during the festivals we have a lot of fun and we spend our days full of dance. Especially during this festival, I felt that for me Shemesh is more than a group, it is like a family to me. Because while preparing for the performance, we all worked very hard, shared a lot, and supported each other in every way. We get very tired during the rehearsals but after each festival, we say "Thank God we did it!"

I would especially like to thank our director and choreographer Verda Darsa, who gave us this chance and who has taught us to be a team and watch out for each other, and would like to state that I am looking forward to the next year's festival.

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