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Dan Ronen

Dan Ronen, for over fifty years a leading activist in Israel’s folk dance movement as a dancer, instructor, researcher, organizer and lecturer, was born and educated in Israel. He holds a B.A. in education and international relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an M.A. and Ph.D. in education from New York University. In addition to his professional work as a pedagogical adviser to several institutes of education and director of the department of culture and arts at the Ministry of Education, he has served as a board member and chairman of numerous bodies active in the arts, education and folklore, both in Israel and abroad. From 1951 on, he was one of the organizers of the national folk dance festivals at Kibbutz Daliyyah.

Articles by this author

Rivka Sturman

Rivka Sturman was a pioneer in creating Israeli folk dance and established the style and character of the genre. Her goal was to culturally unite the immigrants who had come to Palestine but had retained the dances of their old nations. For forty years she choreographed the development of Israeli folk dance and spearheaded programs to help it become a part of Israel’s national identity.

Rina Nikova

Rina Nikova, a pioneer of classical and biblical ballet in Palestine, distinguished herself mostly in character dances, which had a nationalist style influenced by ethnic folklore. Nikova established the first school for classical ballet in Tel Aviv and founded the Biblical Ballet, which was based on Yemenite folklore and focused on Biblical subjects.

Folk Dance, Israeli

Folk dances in Israel are a staple of the national and cultural consciousness and were largely created and performed by women. The halutzim's festival pageants, combined with dance traditions brought to Israel from the Diaspora, led to the creation of many beautiful folk dances. Today there are over three thousand Israeli folk dances.

Deborah Bertonoff

From her debut at age nine through her performances in her late seventies and teaching into her late eighties, Deborah Bertonoff made dance her life’s work. Bertonoff began studying at the Bolshoi School before moving to Israel and joining the Habimah Theater. After studying dance in Europe she began choreographing, and in 1944 she founded a dance studio. She was honored with the 1991 Israel Prize.

Leah Bergstein

Leah Bergstein was the first of the choreographers in Palestine who, at the beginning of the 1930s, created festival dances at kibbutzim that depicted life in pre-state Israel and on agricultural settlements. The unique festival pageants she created, often with poet-composer Mattityahu Shelem, contributed to the development of rural Israeli festivals and holiday celebrations and the creation of the first Israeli dances.

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Dan Ronen." (Viewed on December 25, 2024) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/author/ronen-dan>.