B’yachad, Brandeis’ Israeli folk dance troupe, held its annual show in Levin Ballroom on Thursday. The title of this year’s show was “Rikudiat B’yachad.” Choreographer Lianne Gross ’16 said in an interview with the Justice, “Rikudiat means ‘dances of,’ but it’s kind of a made up word. It comes from [the Hebrew word] ‘rikudia,’ which camps and Hebrew schools use to mean ‘celebration of dance,’ and we just conjugated it to make it grammatically correct with the name ‘B’yachad.’” “B’yachad” is the Hebrew word for together. Putting that together, the title of this year’s show can be loosely translated to mean “a celebration of dancing together.” This really typifies Israeli folk dance — a kind of dance that focuses not on a single dancer but on the group as a whole.

There were nine performances throughout the night. Six of these were B’yachad, with three by other dance groups. One was done by Besamim, a visiting Israeli folk dance troupe, one by FAUJ, an all-male Bhangra army from Boston and the third by the Brandeis Ballet Company.

The six B’yachad performances ranged from fun and energetic to slower and more melodic. The first dance, choreographed by Gross, featured B’yachad’s entire troupe. It was a lively dance to start off the show. It was done to a song called, “Tziltzelei Pa’amonim” and, according to the program, was “a variation on the classic Yemenite style of Israeli dance, focusing heavily on rhythm and traditional steps.”

As a contrast, one of the slowest and most melodic dances of the evening was performed to a song called “Mima’amakim” and was choreographed by Dani Davidoff ’19. In the program, Davidoff wrote, “while Mi Ma’amakim (Out of the Depths) is a little slow, it is beautiful and has always been one of my favorites. Therefore I aimed to mesh lyrical and Israeli dance styles to match the mood of the song.”

FAUJ, despite a late start, had one of the most well received performances of the night. It was the longest dance of the evening and done to a medley of songs, most of which were extremely energetic and so, had fast dance numbers to match. The dancers also used a couple of props in the performance. They used a sort of wooden accordion that matched the beat of the music when they slapped it open and shut. They also used canes at one point, though these had a less obvious use. The loud and colorful costumes completed the lively performance.

The Brandeis Ballet Company’s performance, choreographed by Brooke Granovsky ’18, somehow managed to be simultaneously graceful and edgy. According to the program, it aimed to blend “elements of hip-hop, ballet and modern dance.”

The event was emceed by Emily Farbman ’18 and Dani Nurick ’16. The pair started off a little stiff, simply introducing each performance, but they loosened up over the course of the night, joking, reading fun facts about some of the choreographers and even, at one point, reading a note to Gross written by some of Gross’ friends in the audience who wanted to cheer her on.

There were Israeli snacks at the event, including chocolate cow bars, pita chips and hummus, Bamba and Israeli jellybeans.

The last performance of the night was a collaboration between B’yachad and Boston University’s Israeli folk dance troupe, Kalaniot. Choreographed by Gross and Boston University student Amalia Safer, the number included all the members of each group, creating the largest performance of the night. It was a fun dance to finish up the event, and according to the program, “represents how people from different walks of life can create something wonderful as one unified group.” 

—Editor's Note: Brooke Granovsky is a staff writer for the Justice's arts section.