BIOGRAPHY
MOSHIKO HALEVY
Moshe Yitzhak - Halevy who is known to the dancing community in Israel as Moshiko Halevy, was born in 1932 to Yemenite parents in the Menashiya district near The Yemenite Quarter.
At the age of 17, he was introduced to the Dancing World at the ballet school of Mia Arbatova, in which he performed successfully as a character dancer.
The Critics soon noticed his outstanding talent, despite all the small roles which he performed, and this after three months only from his dancing debut.
His first years as a dancer were dedicated by Moshiko to the classical ballet technique, which constituted for him the basis for all the other dance styles in which he engaged, such as: Modern Ballet, Jazz steps, and other miscellaneous character dances.
Inbal Company
In 1953 Moshiko joined the Inbal Company on the recommendation of the famous choreographer Jerome Robins who was staying at that time in Israel, and gave a special course for dancing in the sphere of Classic Ballet for selected dancers in which also Moshiko Halevy participated.
Moshiko served in the Inbal Company. as one of its Chief dancers, and in 1957 he left with the Company for a tour of performances which lasted approximately nine months in Europe and in the U.S.A.
In 1959, during the period when he was with Inbal, Moshiko produced his first dance Debka Uria, which won a silver medal at the Dance Festival Contest which was held in Vienna, Austria, and which later became one of the most popular dances in the Israeli Folk Dancing Circles, as well as a challenge to every representative company.
In 1971, following 10 years of activity as an independent, Moshiko was asked to return to the Inbal Theatre, this time for the post of the Company's Director. During his service as the Company's Director, Moshiko was asked by Sarah Levy - Tanai to prepare two choreographies, one — an original Yemenite Dance for Men, and the other - a Habani dance for a program which consisted of two short sections under the name: miniatures. The two dances achieved great success in the program of the Cameri theatre.
HaPa'amonim
In 1962, on his return from Inbal's second tour in the United States, Moshiko left Inbal and set up together with the female dancer Yona Levy and the Musician Yitzhak Eliezerov , his company ''The HaPa'amonim'', which met with great success in Israel and abroad. As an Artistic Director and choreographer, Moshiko focused in his choreographic work on the ethnic folkloric theme of the Communities in Israel, and its artistic adjustment to the stage needs.
While working with his company, Moshiko was invited by the Arab Dept. of the General Federation to serve as Artistic Director and Guide for the Minorities' companies, such as: The Circassians from the village of Kama, the Druze from Ussifiya village and Arabs from Tira village, and later on, Moshiko instructed in the Taibe village on behalf of the Amal network. As part of this post, in which he served for five years, Moshiko set up these companies, guided them and built a repertoire of performances whose culmination was the participation of the Ussifiyah and Kama village Company in the dance festival in Holland and Belgium, together with which he was awarded prizes and given great esteem.
In 1969, Moshiko was invited to Wingate Institute for setting up a representative Dance Company together with the teacher Nina Orad as Choreographer and Artistic Director with whom he also leaves for a tour of shows throughout Germany.
In 1973, on the second day of the Yom Kippur War, Moshiko left again with the theater for a tour of performances in America for a period of two months. At the end of the tour, Moshiko terminated his obligations with the theater, and returned to work as an Independent, this time in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Israel.
Since 1949, Moshiko Halevy have been active in the dancing world, consisting of more than 300 Israeli folk dances. Likewise, Moshiko composed approximately 190 melodies which accompany his dances. His dances are characterized by a special style; he derives his ideas from the ethnic origins which are found in Israel and the Mediterranean region, while arranging and adjusting them to the contemporary Israeli dance.
No doubt, that his fruitful activities in this field, has contributed a great deal to the molding and stylizing of the Israeli Dance in Israel. His dances are danced and in great demand world wide, and he is invited abroad to give Seminars and further studies amongst the dancing communities all over the world.
Moshiko on humility as a choreographer
“We don't create, we compose and assemble the dance moves. The Creator of the world, He is the only one who can create out of nothing; and since we do not have the skills that the Creator of the world has, we should not be called creators, but rather choreographers. Choreographing a dance is like assembling a puzzle – if the assembly is correct, good and appropriate, a complete picture emerges. We did not create the parts, nor did we invent them. We simply found and assembled the parts to the desired perfection. With all due respect, dance choreographers have no reason to be called “creators” since none of them ever invented a step. All they do is just replicate the steps and movements and enjoy what happens. For this reason and the degree of modesty required, we must call ourselves “choreographers” and not “creators”.
The lifetime achievement award in 2019
Dancer and choreographer of Israeli folk dances for over 60 years. Moshiko Halevy received the lifetime achievement award for israeli folk dances in 2019 for is work as a composer and musical writer and a folklore expert.
Moshiko Halevy composed more than 300 Israeli folk dances ranging from his own musical compositions to music originating from all kinds of different cultures and ethnicities.
Links
- Moshiko Halevy Channel in Youtube
- Moshiko Halevy Spotify
- Moshiko Halevy Facebook
- Moshiko Halevy in Amazon - Book
- Moshiko Haly in Sound Cloud
- Moshiko Halevy Discography in Discogs
- Moshiko Halevy Discography in Apple
- Videos of the Dances of Moshiko taught in Hong Kong, China
- Moshiko Halevy in Ebay
- Moshiko Halevy songs in Shazam
Debka Dor
Halevai Alai
Sherine
Veshavu Banim