ABOUT
OUR STAFF
Lorraine
Posner Arcus is
nationally
recognized
for her work in the
field of Israeli dance for children and teens as well as in Judaic
curriculum for Early Childhood. For more than thirty-five
years
Lorraine Posner Arcus has been leading Israeli dance groups, teaching
Judaic studies to young children, and instructing others on teaching
techniques. Her passion for Israeli dance was ignited in her teen years
while dancing with Fred Berk in Israel and at the 92nd Street Y in New
York City. While earning her Master's degree in Special
Education
in 1976, Lorraine began her nationally acclaimed program of Israeli
Dance at Temple Israel in Albany, NY. For over twenty years,
sponsorship by Temple Israel and the Board of Education of the United
Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, enabled Lorraine to
encourage a recognition of Israeli Dance as an important part of Jewish
culture and has resulted in the production of scores of experienced
dance teachers who have, themselves, gone on to teach folk dance at
their colleges and in communities around the country. She is the author
of Z'man Lirkod - A Manual for Teaching Israeli Dance and conducts
leadership training programs locally and nationally. After 36 years as
Director of the Israeli Dance Program at Temple Israel, Lorraine
retired from this position this past spring. She is currently the
Director of Admissions and Community Outreach at the Bet Shraga Hebrew
Academy in Albany, NY. Her book, Torah Alive!, published by
URJ
Press, is reflective of her innovative and original curriculum for
young children. Lorraine is a 2001 recipient of the
prestigious
Covenant Award for Outstanding Creative Jewish Educators.
Ruth Goodman began
her dance studies at
the Metropolitan
Opera
School of Ballet and the Ballet Russe School of Dance.
Involved
with the
annual Israel Folk Dance Festival since 1969, she succeeded Fred Berk
as its
director. She is the founder and director of the Parparim
Ensemble of
Israeli Folk Dance and Song a versatile company that has performed for
diverse
audiences, holiday celebrations, regional and national events
throughout the United
States
and Israel.
Ruth conducts
workshops and seminars throughout the Americas,
including
teachers
workshops for the Board of Jewish Education and for CAJE. She
has
participated in numerous tours to Israel
where she has
performed,
directed and observed Israeli music and dance. Ruth is an
author
of the
article, "Israeli Folk Dance Pioneers" published in Jewish Women in America,
an
Historical Encyclopedia and an editor of the international
Hebrew/English
publication, Rokdim-Nirkoda magazine. She is co-director,
with
Danny
Uziel, of the Israeli Dance Institute, a comprehensive resource and
information
center that offers professional guidance to teachers, community
leaders,
performing groups and Israeli folk dance enthusiasts, and of the Jewish
Dance
Division of the 92nd
Street
"Y," which offers a broad range of courses and special events,
including a weekly Israeli folk dance session. Ruth holds a
Master of
Arts degree in Dance Education from Columbia
University
Teachers
College.
Eve
Cameron has been teaching
Israeli
Dance for 15 years
and was recently named Israeli Dance Program Director for Temple Israel
of Albany. She developed the Israeli Dance program at Sinai Academy of
the Berkshires in Pittsfield, MA, where she taught preschool-5th grade
weekly for 10 years. In addition, Eve is the director for the annual
Bet Shraga Hebrew Academy Dance Festival (K-8) in Albany, NY, directed
the high school dance group, Meretz, at Cong. Knesset Israel in
Pittsfield, MA, teaches pre-school dance, directs the
B’Yachad
Hebrew school dance program, mentors teen dance teachers at Temple
Israel and teaches Israeli dance at Maimonides Day School in Albany,
NY. In her “spare” time, she can be found leading
groups of
adults, teens and young children in Israeli dance at
“simchas”, community functions and private
gatherings. Her
dance students perform locally at schools, community gatherings, and
the Annual Israeli Dance Festivals in Albany, NY, Boston, MA and New
York City. Eve takes great pleasure in connecting her students to
Israeli life and culture through the joy of dance. She has a
bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the
University of Maryland and is a 2001 recipient of the Excellence in
Jewish Education Award from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.
Joining
our staff this year
Cecilia Hanano, originally
from Argentina, began her experience as an informal educator in 1995 at
the Sociedad Hebraica Argentina. Now residing in Los Angeles,
California, she is Education Director of the Keshet Chaim Dance
Ensemble through which she teaches about Israeli culture via Israeli
folk dance in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Cecilia
also conducts regular Israeli folk dance workshops for Jewish
organizations, synagogues and schools. In addition, she has developed a
program that teaches tolerance and multiculturalism through Israeli
folk dance. Cecilia has developed training sessions for Israeli
folk dance instructors resulting in a wonderful crew of trained Keshet
Chaim Israeli folk dance instructors with a successful curriculum
working in more than twenty Jewish organizations. Cecilia has
worked as Cultural Arts and Dance Director for Camp Ramah in
California, has been a Daber Fellow -a specialized program to teach
Hebrew informally- from the Avi Chai Foundation, has been teaching at
Ohr Lanu -a Special Needs Family Camp, and has been the Israeli Dance
Specialist and Consultant for BBYO national programs.
Sarah Rodin began
Israeli Folk Dancing as a second grade student at the Solomon Schechter
Day School in Chicago. During junior high and high school Sarah
performed with the Shigaon Israel Folk Dance Troupe. Over the
years Sarah has also studied modern dance, lyrical dance, and for the
past year has been learning belly dancing. After college Sarah
returned to Chicago and began teaching at the adult dance session and
became one of the founding members of Shalechet Aviv, an Israeli dance
performance troupe of which she is now the artistic director.
Sarah currently teachers Israeli Dance full time at the same day school
she attended growing up, where she sees 300 Pre-K – 5th graders
each week and runs performance group for 4th and 5th graders. She
also teaches in several Synagogue religious schools.