Naomi Shemer, An Israeli (Folk)Dance Thought

Over on Rikud, the Israeli Dance listerve (or well, the most populated one), Steve posted a list of Naomi SHemer's songs to which there are dances. I never thought of myself as a Naomi SHemer fan- the couple of her songs that we listened to in Hebrew class were never my real favorites, and I never knew that most of these songs were hers- they vary quite dramatically in style. Just for a shortened list, and some thoughts that they sparked...

Al Kanfey Hakesef (Cute and bouncy, and unfortunately abotu the Israeli Air Force- I have a hard time dancing about the military. Also brings back memories of 9th grade or so, and a surprise visit to my session by a friend who took up entirely too much of my emotional energy at that point. (fleurdelis28, you should be able to guess about whom I'm speaking, as usual.)
Bisdot Beit Lechem (I have another recording of this one, but it's a lovely song. I almost had it in consideration for part of the HaMakor piece for this year, when I was looking for agricultural stuff, pre-the-Joseph-thing)
Eizo Shemesh Mevorechet (never thought of her as singing these faster songs, and this is about as cheerful as one gets)
Hakol Patuach (and there are a frighteningly large number of repeat dances for this song- and I only know the Gabi Bitton one, but since it's from before his stuff got all fluffy, I'm not so disappointed. But there's apparently also a line dance as well as another circles dance.)
Ilu Tziporim (a song that has definitely grown on me over time- I seem to remember thinking it was horridly sappy the first time I heard it)
Mor Ve'Kinamon (on the current "to-learn" list)
Sham Harei Golan (reminding me of a set of dead old jokes, one about confusing the words left and lift, due to Yossi's accent, and another about lifting one's legs as high as possible in part two, since the dance is supposed to be climbing a mountain at that point. Eep- err, the Dancer is supposed to be climbing. IF the dance could climb on its own, I'd be impressed.)
Sheleg Al Iri (no wonder I always thought of those two together, besides that they always used to be played together when I started dancing)
Shir AL Etz (not her composition- it's an old Yiddish song, and my goodness, do I dislike it strongly- not my sort of song, and a lousy dance too)
Tfilati (COuldn't stand this one after a "performance" at the nursing home where Mom works, there was so much weirdness about the preparations, and we weren't even learning performance pieces- just dancing with the old folks around us in a big circle. ANd afterwards- trying to get abotu 17 Jews, many of them Israeli to decide on a restaurant to go to? Insanity.)
Al Hadvash/Al Kol Eleh (there are apparently 5 different dances to this song, count 'em, 5. By: Shalom Amar, Chaim Livneh, Sefi Aviv,
Rivka Sturman, Shlomo Bachar. Ranging in time from 1974 to 1992. It's a lovely song, but that's serious overkill.)
Hachnisini Tachat Knafech (Why do I remember a man singing this? Again, 3 dances, although since 1 is from 1979, and the other two are 1999 and 2000, I'm guessing that there's a latter cover, probably by a man, which is why I remember it as such.)
(And of course) Od Lo Ahavti Dai (of which I again know a number of recordings)


This random collection brough to you by the numbers 3 and 5, and the silent vowel shva.

Naomi Shemer, An Israeli (Folk)Dance Thought

Over on Rikud, the Israeli Dance listerve (or well, the most populated one), Steve posted a list of Naomi SHemer's songs to which there are dances. I never thought of myself as a Naomi SHemer fan- the couple of her songs that we listened to in Hebrew class were never my real favorites, and I never knew that most of these songs were hers- they vary quite dramatically in style. Just for a shortened list, and some thoughts that they sparked...

Al Kanfey Hakesef (Cute and bouncy, and unfortunately abotu the Israeli Air Force- I have a hard time dancing about the military. Also brings back memories of 9th grade or so, and a surprise visit to my session by a friend who took up entirely too much of my emotional energy at that point. (fleurdelis28, you should be able to guess about whom I'm speaking, as usual.)
Bisdot Beit Lechem (I have another recording of this one, but it's a lovely song. I almost had it in consideration for part of the HaMakor piece for this year, when I was looking for agricultural stuff, pre-the-Joseph-thing)
Eizo Shemesh Mevorechet (never thought of her as singing these faster songs, and this is about as cheerful as one gets)
Hakol Patuach (and there are a frighteningly large number of repeat dances for this song- and I only know the Gabi Bitton one, but since it's from before his stuff got all fluffy, I'm not so disappointed. But there's apparently also a line dance as well as another circles dance.)
Ilu Tziporim (a song that has definitely grown on me over time- I seem to remember thinking it was horridly sappy the first time I heard it)
Mor Ve'Kinamon (on the current "to-learn" list)
Sham Harei Golan (reminding me of a set of dead old jokes, one about confusing the words left and lift, due to Yossi's accent, and another about lifting one's legs as high as possible in part two, since the dance is supposed to be climbing a mountain at that point. Eep- err, the Dancer is supposed to be climbing. IF the dance could climb on its own, I'd be impressed.)
Sheleg Al Iri (no wonder I always thought of those two together, besides that they always used to be played together when I started dancing)
Shir AL Etz (not her composition- it's an old Yiddish song, and my goodness, do I dislike it strongly- not my sort of song, and a lousy dance too)
Tfilati (COuldn't stand this one after a "performance" at the nursing home where Mom works, there was so much weirdness about the preparations, and we weren't even learning performance pieces- just dancing with the old folks around us in a big circle. ANd afterwards- trying to get abotu 17 Jews, many of them Israeli to decide on a restaurant to go to? Insanity.)
Al Hadvash/Al Kol Eleh (there are apparently 5 different dances to this song, count 'em, 5. By: Shalom Amar, Chaim Livneh, Sefi Aviv,
Rivka Sturman, Shlomo Bachar. Ranging in time from 1974 to 1992. It's a lovely song, but that's serious overkill.)
Hachnisini Tachat Knafech (Why do I remember a man singing this? Again, 3 dances, although since 1 is from 1979, and the other two are 1999 and 2000, I'm guessing that there's a latter cover, probably by a man, which is why I remember it as such.)
(And of course) Od Lo Ahavti Dai (of which I again know a number of recordings)


This random collection brough to you by the numbers 3 and 5, and the silent vowel shva.