Covid closed down my Israeli dance class permanently so I signed up for ‘Circle Dance’ which offered dances from around the world. I liked the dances, the music, and especially Luci, the teacher. Luci came early to class to create a centerpiece which we danced around. It always had a candle surrounded by leaves, flowers, and photos. She briefly explained the origin of each dance before patiently teaching the steps, and she never singled anyone out for their mistakes.
Many dances were slow and meditative. Luci originally called the class ‘Sacred Dance,’ but when the senior center objected she changed the name.
‘Baba Yetu,’ a Swahili dance where you raise your hands and look up to the heavens made me somewhat uncomfortable, but I liked the music and decided to not think about the meaning.
One morning, I went for coffee before class and met Luci in the café. She commented on my knowledge of the Israeli dances, and I told her I was Jewish. She said she had Jewish heritage, but before I could ask about it, she rushed to class.
During the holiday break Luci took a trip to the Findhorn Folk Festival in Scotland, a large, New Age event. When she returned, everything changed for me. The tiny tea-light candle was replaced with a bigger model, and the surrounding tokens similarly grew in size. She now listed the order of dances on a white-board, and there were several new ones. On that fateful day, two Israeli dances and a Latvian one, ‘Ozuli’ (Oak Tree,) were on the list.
“Imagine you are caressing the tree,” Luci explained.
We never did the first Israeli dance, but we ended with ‘Erev Ha Shoshanim’ (Evening of Roses). When it was over, the class broke into spontaneous applause. But it was not over. ‘Baba Yetu’ started. As I stepped into the circle, arms waving above my head, I wondered what I was really doing. Praying to Jesus, for a Jew, is just as bad as praying to a tree! I was angry at Luci for fooling me and at myself for going along.
I e-mailed Luci that evening to explain why I was leaving:
“For me dance has meaning; ‘Ozuli’ is a pagan form of tree worship, and ‘Baba Yetu’ is an African way to worship Jesus. As a Jew I cannot do either.”
Luci replied: “I never want to push any ‘religious’ line in the dances I offer, but like the ‘Ave Maria Islamica’, for example, I like that the choreographer created a bridge between Christianity and Islam. ‘Baba Yetu’ is obviously about Christian worship, but that doesn’t have any bearing on the steps that I know of.”
Thankfully, in the short time I was there she hadn’t taught the Ave Maria dance.
Now I’m in a wonderful Israeli dance class, and ‘Circle Dance’ is a bad memory.
