Chai ensembles celebrating 50 years

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This article was published 11/06/2014 (4377 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Still going strong after 50 years, the Chai Folk Ensemble will celebrate its half-century of existence in style, the way it always has — through music.

The Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble believes music is the energy of the human spirit and that Chai, the Hebrew word for alive, “educates communities around the world that the richness in our lives is found within our diversity,” according to the group’s website.

The Ensemble, widely acclaimed as North America’s oldest and largest Israeli folk dance troupe, was founded in 1964 by the late Sarah Sommer.

“It was started by Sarah in her basement with eight other dancers, coined the ‘Original 8,’” Lori Binder, an executive on Chai’s board of directors, said. “What blossomed from there, 50 years later, is an amazing ensemble with a live orchestra, live singers and dancers. We always perform to live music, which is quite an anomaly in terms of folk groups.”

Today, The Chai Folk Arts Council is located in at C147-123 Doncaster St., and the ensemble has a studio at 531 Notre Dame Ave.

Touted as an “all-encompassing” Jewish cultural experience, Chai is made up of over 40 singers, musicians and dancers and is the only Israeli folk ensemble on the continent to perform with a live musical accompaniment.

“Really, what we are celebrating is the fact that we are a performing arts group in Winnipeg that has been around for 50 years,” Binder said. “We have been preparing for the last 18 months to celebrate.”

The Chai Folk Ensemble honoured past and present members through a Shabbat dinner and two concerts last week and is now looking forward to a couple of big events to cap off its 50-year milestone.

“Over the 50 years, there have been a lot of accomplishments where Chai has performed,” Binder said. “We have performed all over North America, places like the Epcot Centre, Mexico City and we once travelled to Israel.”

As a part of the celebrations, Chai will depart to Israel again on an interfaith mission that will include performances at the Karmiel Israeli Dance Festival. While in Israel, Chai will visit Old Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Nazareth, just to name a few locations, while performing and representing Canada during the fortnight-long excursion commencing on July 1.

“It was our goal to return to Israel for the second time,” Binder said. “Over 50 performers and friends and family will be representing Canada. This is quite exciting.”

The party doesn’t stop there, either, as Chai will once again be the featured performers at the Israel Pavilion at this year’s Folklorama festival in August.

Chai is already looking towards the next 50 years.

“Our goal is not just to celebrate today, our goal is to really establish a strong future for future generations, both financially as well as sustaining our audience members,” Binder said. “We hope for new performers and new board members.”