Marla Simcoff (far right) is part of a dance ensemble. Photo by Adele Lewin

Canada is home to the fourth largest Jewish community in the world, and here in Vancouver there is a strong emphasis on Jewish culture in modern and traditional arts. The Jewish performing arts festival Chutzpah! (pronounced “hutz-pah”), now in its 13th year, is currently underway in venues around the city. The festival showcases homegrown and international Jewish talent in theatre, music and dance.

Artistic Managing Director of Chutzpah! for the past nine years, Mary-Louise Albert, became involved through her own artistic career.

Marla Simcoff. Photo courtesy of Marla Simcoff

“I was a professional dancer for many years so I knew about the festival. After I stopped dancing at the age of 45, I went to business school knowing I wanted to stay within the arts. The job came up and I got it!” says Albert, who is proud of what events like this do for Jewish arts.

“What it does is allow for people to experiment. It gives opportunity for new work to be created and work to tour, which is very useful for artists,” she says.

On B.C.’s first Family Day a group of young dancers celebrated Jewish and Israeli culture at the Community Dance Show, held at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCCGV) as part of Chutzpah!.

“It’s a fairly new culture in dance style if you think about it. Israel is turning 65 this year. That’s 65 years of building a new style, so there’s lots of developments that have come over this time,” says Marla Simcoff, Israeli dance coordinator at the JCCGV.

Israeli dance has a wide spectrum of music and styles, but the Horah is one of the most well known. It’s traditionally an upbeat dance done in a circle and involves running, jumping and turning. The dancers are barefoot and wear either colourful dresses, or blue and white to symbolize Israel.

In contrast, the Middle-Eastern Yemenite and European Sephardic styles involve dancers who wear pants instead of dresses, and the dance is set to a much heavier drumbeat.

Simcoff believes the arts are important within Jewish culture because they unite Jewish communities and are an outlet for expression. She also thinks it’s great to showcase differences within the community.

“Within Judaism, music and song is always really special and important to us so I think that has a large impact on the culture. It’s not just about going on stage and wearing costumes; it’s tied-in in other ways,” says Simcoff.

Israel is often referred to as a melting pot of different nationalities and cultures, as many people immigrated after World War II.

“It all blends in together to what we now see as Israeli culture,” says Simcoff.

The dance programs at the JCCGV are for all ages, but the majority of the people Simcoff works with are teens and elementary school students. Simcoff explains that since many teens do not attend Jewish schools, the programs are their main connection to the Jewish community.

“We have 35 teens within our two performance groups and most of them don’t have any other connection to the community besides through dance and performing. They get to meet other people, especially teens from the community, whereas maybe they wouldn’t otherwise,” says Simcoff. She finds that involvement in the arts is a great way for young people to be more aware of their cultural roots, in the company of their peers.

Upcoming highlights include Haunted, a production featuring the winner of the 2011 Canadian Jewish playwriting competition, a performance by the acclaimed Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company and Yemen Blues, which combines Yemenite-Jewish song and poetry and West African and American sounds.

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Check out the Chutzpah! schedule, by visiting the website www.chutzpahfestival.com. The festival runs until March 3rd.