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1. Performances:
On 5th March, a group of ZOOZ dancers, led by Richelle, entertained about 100 elderly Russian immigrants in Sth Melbourne. The dance troupe performed a selection of 5 vibrant dances. The audience enjoyed it very much and cheered loudly. There were other performers, but ZOOZ was definitely the highlight of their evening. The Russian community were very hospitable. Thank you to Miron, Miriam, Lana, Suzy, Jack, Tom, Colette & Caryn. They were all real troopers because they did this performance right before coming to their regular Thursday night dance class. Now that's dedication for you!
By the way, we have another "gig" to perform for the elderly at the Emmy Monash Homes in Caulfield on Sunday 26th July at 2.30 pm. Please let Richelle know if you are interested in participating. Low-intermediate dancers from Tuesday night & Thursday morning are very welcome!
On 28th April, at the Yom Ha'atzmaut Concert (celebrating Israel's Independence Day) held at The Hamer Hall in St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, 12 of our ZOOZ dancers performed the classic circle dance "Shir Li Kinnereth". Cindy, Colette, Patricia, Suzy, Haya, Lana, Miriam, Caryn, Sam G, Jerry D, Tom, & Jack, not only looked fabulous in their black & red ZOOZ t-shirts, but danced beautifully too. We are all proud of you for representing ZOOZ so well. Thank you for your diligence in coming to your rehearsals. A special thanks to Miriam for helping to make the costumes look so good.There will be photos of our dancers up on our web site shortly.
2. ZOOZ Camp
Our 3rd Annual dance camp was held in Rosebud on May 1st - May 3rd. Our accommodation was at the Nepean Country Club once again, and the fabulous dance hall was at the Rosebud Secondary College, only a few minutes away by car.
After checking into our rooms at 3 pm many people came to help us decorate the hall. We formally started the camp with Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday evening with Sam & Caryn Granek acting as our Aba & Imma (mother & father) They led us through the Shabbat service & we all sang many Shabbat songs together. During our 3 course meal, we conducted a fun trivial pursuit quiz. The "Karmiel" table won by a very small margin! It was all in fun anyway - nothing serious! Our Shabbat dinner at Fingal's restaurant at Nepean Country Club was superb. The new chef is French, and he did a great job - magnifique!
After dinner, we started the workshop at the dance hall, with 2 new dances - Richelle taught a circle - dance - Malachai Ha'shalom (choreographed by Avner Naim) the song is a Shabbat liturgy, and was a perfect choice to introduce on Friday night! Then Belinda taught a fun line dance - Tirkedi Et Halayla (choreographed by Silvio Berlfein) Later we all danced a medley of dances specifically pertaining to Israel, to celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut. The hall was beautifully decorated with Israeli flags and a multitude of blue and white balloons and streamers, thanks to our decorators! We danced only until 1.30 am. as most people were very tired. Besides, we had a whole day & night ahead of us!
On Saturday morning we welcomed many dancers who came up from Melbourne just for the workshop. We commenced with a Beginners - low intermediate program led by Marsha & Cindy. Cindy taught - Balada La'Shoter, a dance suited for all levels. Marsha then revised Malachai Ha'shalom. Following this, we danced through the line dance Tirkedi Et Halayla. Following this session, the Open program commenced. Belinda taught a new circle dance - Ana Delu (choreographed by Shmulik Gov-Ari) and then Richelle taught Elohim Ta'ase She'nigdal (also by Shmulik) To complete the morning program, Richelle taught a fun new partner dance - Chashavti She'yeie Romanti (choreographed by Mishel Cohen & Gil)
Following our casual and relaxed lunch at the hall which comprised of abundant fresh rolls of all descriptions, and delicious minestrone and pumpkin soups, our afternoon session commenced. Belinda taught us Rachamam Rachem,choreographed by Shmulik Gov- Ari (it was a real Shmulik day!) and she also taught us a little bit about Yemenite style! Then Richelle taught a fun & easy circle dance - Boie choreographed by Eli Segal. To complete the afternoon workshop, Richelle taught a new challenging partner dance - Lo Avater Alayich (choreographed by Rafi Subara)
At the conclusion of the workshop, we thanked our many friends from other dance groups who joined our ZOOZies for a wonderful day of dancing. But it didn't end there - the real fun was about to begin! In keeping with the theme for the Saturday night - PIRATES, everyone made an effort to dress up for dinner in their pirate outfits. Some people went to enormous trouble and looked sensational!! Although everyone looked fantastic, special mention must go to Sam Richwol for the effort he put into his costume - he was a simply gorgeous wench and was serious competition to all the other wenches!! There were some very clever costumes - Tom's overcoat with pirated videos and cd's attached inside was very original, as was Miron's "Pi" rate, and Marion's "treasure chest" - wearing a bra (externally!) full of chocolate money - luckily they didn't all melt! We saw Marion distributing the treasure to people later in the evening in a very interesting manner!
Our Saturday night dinner was a fantastic BBQ (chicken shashlik, lamb, steak and sausages) with various salads, corn on the cob and baked potato. Once again, our chef did not let us down. Vegetarians were also suitably catered for. Richelle ordered everyone a shot of rum - after all, we were all Pirates and that's what pirates drink, aye me hearties?
After dinner we headed for the dance hall, most people still wearing their costumes. No-one but the ZOOZ staff knew that there was a special surprise waiting for them! First, we tried to get everyone who entered the hall to walk the plank, but most were reluctant to do so!! Richelle & Sam staged a mock fight which led to them fighting with their swords (plastic!) Then our surprise popped out from the wings.....we had organised a champion sword fighting instructor to come along to demonstrate and to teach us how to swordfight properly! Chris came with all the necessary safety gear so that we didn't kill each other or blind somebody!! He taught us the terminology used in fencing and then proceeded to teach us how to attack and to defend and to block. It was great fun and a very unique experience! Touche!!
Watch out in your classes from now on - your teachers may expertly use swords to correct your footwork!
Following our fencing lesson, we changed into dancing gear and danced until people had enough and just wanted to shmooze!!No one was in a hurry to get to bed!
Our Sunday morning program commenced with Marsha teaching us the bright & lively dance,Tzoek Chazak (choreographed by Eli Segal) Cindy then taught us the haunting Eretz Hachidot (choreographed by Avi Peretz) which was a favourite for some people. We concluded the Sunday workshop with a partner dance taught by Belinda, also choreographed by Avi Peretz, Eretz Bereshit. This easy, gentle dance to beautiful music, was the perfect way to complete our wonderful weekend of dancing.
After many of our dancers stayed behind to help us to pack up and clean up,(THANK YOU SO MUCH!!) a large group of us headed off to the Rosbud Hotel for a late lunch. We have done this for the past 3 years. It was a great way to unwind and to reminisce over all the happenings at camp and to say our sad farewells until the following week!!
All in all, our camp was a great success! We received many emails of thanks from the dancers who attended.
We were delighted to have had a group of beginners join us for most of the camp. They did just great in the open sessions and followed dances they did not know very well. Well done!
We hope you will all plan to join us for our camp next year - April 30th - May 2nd, when we will be bringing out very well known choreographers to teach their own dances. We will be sending out a lot more details in the next few weeks, but please in the meantime, put the dates in your diary, and try not to be away for this wonderful event - ZOOZ KEFF!!
There are 2 albums to look at - General photos and Pirate Night.You can either click on "slide show" or click on each photo.
A very big thank you to all the numerous helpers who came to the hall early to help us put up the decorations - Ossi, Sam, Grace, Caryn, Haya, Miryam, James, Margot, Charryce, Tom, Jack & Suzy, you did a tremendous job! I hope I haven't left anyone out!! Thanks to those of you who voluntarily helped Suzy with kitchen duties. Thanks to Caryn, Collete, Jack, & Patricia for sharing your wonderful photos. Thank you to all of you who helped to clean up and put away the decorations & a special thanks to Annette who also made the delicious dried apples for us to enjoy after the camp. Thank you to all of you for getting into the spirit of things on Saturday night by wearing your pirate gear. And thank you to all those who came to support us and for making the camp such a delightful experience!
It would be very remiss if we did not single out one person - Gracie, to pay tribute to all the work she put in to help the ZOOZ staff throughout the weekend, from beginning to the end....as always!
Thank you also Caryn & Sam for the very enjoyable skit they wrote especially for our camp and to Marion, Colette & Miron for helping them to perform it on Saturday night at dinner. Here are the words sung to the melody of "Wouldn't it be Loverly" from My Fair Lady. CAMP SONG
All I want is to learn to dance Zooz is the place if I had the chance Yemenites, grapevines and waltz Oh wouldn’t it be loverly.
All I want is to learn to dance Zooz is the place if I had the chance Yemenites, grapevines and waltz Oh wouldn’t it be loverly.
Lots of steps for me to learn How to sit, hop hop and turn
Rachamim and Halev Nitpas Oh wouldn’t it be loverly.
CHORUS :
Oh so loverly every evening when we en - ter the hall
Oh so loverly every evening when we en - ter the hall
I would dance and jump and ne- ver, ever have a fall.
Cindy and Marsha are on the floor, Teaching and smiling – we all want more
My God my feet are sore But wouldn’t it be loverly
Richelle makes us all stamp our feet To learn the dance and to learn the beat
Richelle makes us all stamp our feet To learn the dance and to learn the beat
Facing in then facing out I’ll never ever work this out
CHORUS
Oh so loverly when Belinda glides across the floor
Oh so loverly when Belinda glides across the floor
While we’re dancing Jack and Suzy greet everyone at the door
There are steps I will never get I watch and follow and then forget Balagan - Debka Ramot Now that’s a dance that no-one’s got
Lots of people who learn with me They all smile but they just can’t see That I can’t get dosey does
Lots of people who learn with me They all smile but they just can’t see That I can’t get dosey does
So lets all go to Georgio’s………Georgio’s………….Georgio’s*
(* a large group of us go to Georgio's for supper after our Thursday night dance class every week....everyone welcome!!)
The 12 dances we taught, have all been given rave reviews by the dancers. We are still revising them in all of our classes, so those of you who missed the camp, you still have a chance to learn them in all of our ZOOZ classes. On Tuesday mornings, Thursday nights and Saturday afternoons, we will be revising all the circle dances. Thursday mornings, Monday & Tuesday nights classes will be learning the dances appropriate to their levels.
And one last big thank to our fantastic staff - our teachers, Cindy & Marsha, and to Jack & Suzy, Sam & Claude who combined together to form a great TEAM. Each one of them doing their utmost to help us and each other. It is because of the tremendous team effort that we had such a hugely successful camp once again. We love you guys! We couldn't have done it without you!
3. PERTH WORKSHOP
Richelle & Sam just returned from a weekend in Perth where Richelle was invited to run a workshop for Hora Shalom. (Her 3rd workshop in Perth) She taught 11 dances at a one day workshop - a mixture of circles, lines and partner dances, for all levels. In total, about 60 dancers attended the morning & afternoon workshops. They are all very keen dancers and learnt the dances very well. So if you are going to Perth, make sure you stop by and dance with Hora Shalom. They are a great bunch of people! Thank you to Cindy for being the substitute teacher for Monday night and Saturday afternoon classes whilst Richelle was away.
4. BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP
This Sunday, May 31st, Richelle will be conducting a workshop for new beginners - beginners. The venue is the Scout Hall, 2 Miller Street, Elsternwick. The time is 11am - 12.30 pm and the cost is only $6. This workshop is suitable for all the dancers who have recently commenced and have not gone through our ZOOZ beginners course, and for anyone who wants to go over some of the basic steps. It is also suitable for someone who might be intending commencing our beginners class in the very near future.
Chag Shavuoth Sameach (happy Shavuot)
Happy ZOOZ'ing
Love
Richelle & Belinda
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