The
annual Yair Shapira Dance festival
By: Matan Bouter
By: Matan Bouter
In 2014 the Yair
Shapira festival is marking 39 years. This year I missed it. I was in Greenwich
in December.
Yair was
born and raised in Kibbutz Givat-Oz, the kibbutz I was born and raised in. He
was a dancer. He served in the IDF Golani Brigade, participated in the Yom
Kippur War, and fell in battle on Mount Hermon. He was 21 years old when he
died.
Over the
years, the festival has become a celebration in memory of Yair’s life. The
participants are 14 to 18 year old dance students from the twelfth regional
dance studios.
The festival
which takes place each year in Beit Shean, a city in the north of Israel, strengthens
the connection between dance students from peripheral areas kibbutzim and Moshavim,
and raises the level of professionalism in various aspects in the field of
dance. Among other things, students or teachers who have contributed their part
to dance are awarded.
Different
technique workshops are held, together with meetings with young Israeli artists.
“Bat Sheva” Dance troupe and Kibbutz Contemporary Dance troupe, show their
repertoire, and students and adult dancers perform on site.
Yair Shapira
grew up with my aunt, and his loss is still greatly felt in our kibbutz. I, as a member of the Kibbutz, with my family, come to this festival
every year to see the memory of Yair creating this amazing union between the
Israeli dance communities.
Yair Shapira |