Our favorite folk dancing sites

On-line videos of Israeli dances
http://homepage.mac.com/israeli_folk_dances/vhome.html
You can actually watch choreographers doing their dances at workshops in the U.S. and elsewhere. Les Posen has a fantastic website dedicated to high-quality, on-line videos that he recorded and digitized himself. Listings are alphabetical and sorted by type of dance—circle, partner, or line. Be careful: this website can be addicting. Some of us [we’re not naming names] watch these videos by the hour. If you stare at them long enough, you can even learn the dances and teach them to others. [To view this site, it helps to have a high-speed connection.]

Bat Amanoot  http://batamanoot.com [New, July 2005]

Bat Amanoot shares  stories or interviews about the singers or composers of dance songs, discussions with the choreographers of dances, or insights with the musicians or others connected with the creative process.
 

Don Schillinger’s website
http://www.rakdan.com
Lots of helpful and interesting info. Don got a jump start on his career as an Israeli dancing “markid” right here in St. Louis, when he led our group in several weekend workshops in the early 1990s. Since then, he’s gone full-time, leading and starting up groups all around Philadelphia and parts of New Jersey. His site has excellent photos that reflect the energy of a successful Israeli dancing session. Don also keeps close track of dances taught and reviewed at his sessions: Studying his charts offers an excellent guide for a teaching program. Also, links to all the big workshops and festivals.

Words and translations for Hebrew songs
http://www.hebrewsongs.com
Hundreds of songs translated and transliterated into English. Many dancers—especially those new to Israeli dancing—want to know the meaning of the words. This site doesn’t have everything [Who could? There are 4,000+ songs in the Israeli dancing repertoire]; but it’s very useful, it’s growing, and it can help add value to the Israeli dancing experience.

Everything about Israeli folk dancing
http://www.israelidance.com
Want to find a dance session in a city you plan to visit or move to? Trying to find out who choreographed a particular dance, or in what year? This site includes the definitive, easily searchable Israeli Folk Dance library; a comprehensive database of dance sessions around the world; plus, the fun, “dance-aholic” test. Also, a comprehensive calendar of dance events, and links to festivals and workshops everywhere.

An excellent site from Australia
http://www.israelidances.com
Not to be confused with the previous listing, this Australia-based site offers a great deal of info and links to many other key sites around the world.

Other types of folk dancing in the St. Louis region
http://www.folkfire.org
The St. Louis area is target-rich for folk dancers and lovers of folk music, and FolkFire is the definitive folk and ethnic, dance and music resource for St. Louis and the Central States. You’ll find groups and events representing a huge range of nationalities and styles on this up-to-date, well-organized site.

Traveling to UK or Europe? Here's how to find Israeli Folk Dancing while you're there!

http://www.ifdiuk.org/ An excellent link for traveling dancers. Lots of information about groups abroad, so you can dance your way across Europe.

 Jewish in St. Louis  http://www.jewishinstlouis.org

Newly established [June 2005] website with listings of everything Jewish in St. Louis: community organizations, congregations, special events, sources of Jewish and Israeli merchandise, etc.