The idea of holding a large-scale Jewish dance competition originated with the Director of the Khmelnytsky Charitable Foundation "Hesed Besht" Igor Ratushny a long time ago. And not without reason, because almost every dance group in Podillia has a dance composition on a Jewish theme in its repertoire. This is facilitated by the historical past: the territory of the native land is closely connected with the Jewish cultural heritage. This means that both music and dance have preserved the trace of Jewish creativity, which is recognizable even in our time. Thus, at the initiative of the Khmelnytsky Charitable Foundation "Hesed Besht" and Khmelnytskyi Regional Scientific and Methodological Center of Culture and Arts The Regional Jewish Dance Competition "Jewish Extravaganza" was launched.
The opportunity to compete in the skill of Jewish dance appealed to almost two dozen dance groups from the Khmelnytskyi region. The venue of the competition was the XMelnytskyi Regional Television and Radio Company "Podillia-Center", whose leadership supported the initiative of the event. After all, Jewish dances are not just a spectacular performance, but also a wealth of costumes, an unmatched style, passion and grace. The video recording of the competition in the large studio of the Podillya-Center TV and Radio Broadcasting Company has already become the property of the television company's funds, which will be repeated more than once for viewers throughout the region.
In parallel with the dance competition, a number of events on related topics were organized. In the lobby of the television company, a unique exhibition of literature related to choreography awaited viewers and participants of the competition. There were four thematic sections: dance methodology, dances for everyone, compositions of different peoples and nationalities, and dance costumes. In general, there is extremely little literature dedicated to choreography. Therefore, many people were really interested in seeing and reviewing books and magazines intended for both amateurs and professional dancers. The exhibition involved literature from both the library of the Thiya Community Center and from the funds of Regional library for youth and Khmelnytskyi Regional Scientific Library named after M. Ostrovsky.
A kind of “highlight” of the competition was the “Nihunim” group led by Maryna Nishenko – guests from the city of Chernivtsi. The group exists under the auspices of a charitable foundation "Chesed Shushan" and professionally engaged in Jewish choreography. The repertoire of "Nigunim" includes dances of various Jewish ethnic groups, such as Moroccan Jews or Jews of Egypt. The team did not participate in the competition program, but only gave the audience and participants graceful and enchanting performances. The team also held a master class in Jewish dances for the leaders of dance groups that arrived for the competition in the premises of the Regional Scientific and Methodological Center for Culture and Arts.
As for the competition itself, its course in many ways even exceeded the expectations of the organizers. It was attended by teams from Yarmolynechnya, Vinkovechnya, Derazhnyan, Starokostyantyniv, Novaya Ushtyca, Dunayevechnya, Shepetiv, Bilogirya, Volochysk, Izyaslav and, in fact, Khmelnytskyi. Experienced cultural workers were invited to the judging panel, whose authoritative opinion was important in assessing the skills of the contestants. The competition was held in three age categories.
The winners of the competition were:
In the children's and youth age category (ensemble):
exemplary folk dance ensemble "Barvogray" of the Izyaslav Children's School of Arts (director Zoryan Kuzema) – Grand Prix;
choreographic ensemble "Mosaic" of the Shepetivskaya Children's Music School (director Ivanna Beizimova) – 1st place;
exemplary choreographic group “Magic Ring” of the Vinkovets Children's School of Arts (director Oksana Lemesheva) – 1st place;
exemplary choreographic group "Flamingo" of the Volochysk State Youth Theater School (director Daria Khimich) – 2nd place;
Choreographic group "Radist" of the Shepetivka Children's Music School (director Lyubov Kamforovich) – 2nd place;
choreographic ensemble "Gracia" of the Starosynyavska Children's Music School (director Ruslan Dubchak) – 3rd place;
choreographic group "Galant" of the Khmelnytskyi Children's School of Arts "Rainbow" (director Olena Bogach) - 3rd place;
In the children's and youth age category (small form):
folk art collective dance ensemble "Podolyanchyk" of the Khmelnytsky Palace of Children and Youth Creativity (director - Honored Worker of Education of Ukraine Ivan Gureyev) - 1st place;
In the age category – adults (small form):
Tyukh Vadym, Kolisnyk Kateryna – Kadyivskyi SC of Yarmolynetsky district (head – Liliya Dembitska) – 2nd place;
exemplary choreographic group "Zagrava" of the Derazhnya Children's Music School (director - Olga Chorna) - 3rd place;
In the age category – adults (ensemble):
amateur folk dance ensemble "Nadzbruchanka" of the Volochysk District House of Culture "Harmony" (director - Olga Panasyuk) - 1st place.
In total, 175 people took part in the competition. All the spectators could see with what effort the children and adults performed the dance compositions, what enthusiasm and excitement the participants had that day. And although most of the groups chose the traditional or interpreted version of the song “Hava Nagila” as the musical accompaniment, the performance of each group was truly unique. The competition also showed that interest in Jewish culture and art is present throughout the region, where Jewish dances are actively studied.
The performance of the musical group "Hesedband", which presented its creativity to the audience and participants during the summing up of the competition, was extremely pleasant and apt. The incendiary music not only delighted people, but also prompted some spectators to start dancing in the auditorium.
This is how the “Jewish Extravaganza” competition turned out – interesting, useful and, indeed, enchanting. Both the audience and the participants received a lot of positive emotions, and the winners received valuable and pleasant prizes. We hope that the competition will become traditional and next time the participants will have even more strength, ideas and inspiration to conquer the artistic “Olympus” of Jewish dances!
