Dance dynasty

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This article was published 25/01/2016 (3553 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble is being honoured for its contributions to Manitoba’s dance community.

The Jewish dance company will be presented with the Special Achievement Award by Dance Manitoba at the 2016 Distinction Awards for Excellence in Dance, to be held at the Fort Garry Hotel on Sat., Jan. 30.

Dance Manitoba executive director Nicole Owens said Chai is the first organization to be honoured in the Distinction Awards’ three-year history, as previous honorees have all been individuals.  

“It’s our way to say thank you for the amazing work they’ve done as an organization,” Owens said.
“We’re saying thank you for maintaining artistic excellence with their training, their dancing and the programs they deliver to the community, and maintaining artistic excellence across the province, the country and internationally.”

Chai Folk Ensemble was founded in 1964 by the late Sarah Sommer. The company, which works out of a studio on 531 Notre Dame Ave. in West Alexander, has a mandate to preserve Jewish culture through music and dance.

Chai artistic director David Vamos said the company, which features roughly 30 performers, has performed all over Canada and the United States, as well as Israel and Mexico.

“It’s very high-energy show that brings together Jewish culture from all over the world,” Vamos said.
“It’s not just what people traditionally think of like, say, Fiddler on the Roof. We do music from South America, from North Africa, from the Middle East of course, from Europe, anywhere where Jewish culture has touched the local population.

“It’s a combination of traditional Israeli music which is very high-energy — there is a positive feeling in our shows — with some meditative pieces as well. We’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of incredible modern dancers in the last few years that have brought a real artistry to what we do.”

For example, in November at Club Regent Events Centre, the company performed alongside contemporary klezmer band The Black Sea Station and Verba Ukrainian Dance Company in Meridian, the brainchild of Israeli choreographer Shai Gottesman.

“He’s a longtime friend of the group and he had this vision for an entire show based on the Eastern European cultures coming together,” Vamos said.

“We have partnerships across the community with other cultural dance groups. We’ve done performances in the last year with Rusalka (a Ukrainian dance ensemble) and Verba. We’ve really loved those collaborative experiences. Getting to dance with these huge groups is just so exciting.”

Chai also operates YONA, a Jewish children’s song theatre program, which Vamos said is a way to connect Jewish kids with their culture and hopefully acts as a feeder group for the larger ensemble.

As for Vamos, he joined the company in 2002 as a singer. He said Chai Folk Ensemble has been essential in connecting him to his culture.

“Even though I’m from a Jewish background, I wasn’t really raised in the Jewish community, so I’m one of those people for whom Chai been the way they get in touch with their Judaism and Jewish culture,” Vamos said.

“I really found a love for my own background through this group.”

Tickets for the 2016 Distinction Awards for Excellence are $100 and available at the Dance Manitoba office (204-180 Market Ave.) and www.dancemanitoba.org