The art of Dancing 
The Ethiopian-Israeli Beta Dance Troupe from Haifa, Israel, will make its first New York City appearance during the Sigd Festival this Sunday at the 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue.
Beta Dance Troupe highlights Sigd Festival this weekend. (Photo courtesy 92nd Street Y)
The Sigd Festival has been celebrated for centuries as a commemoration of the acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The weekend’s festival will include Ethiopian dance, music, chants, prayer, and food, highlighted by a performance of the Beta Dance Troupe on October 10 at 1 p.m.
The troupe will present the traditional art of Eskesta (Ethiopian shoulder dancing), combining African rhythms and music with ancient chants in Ge’ez, the sacred language of Ethiopian Jewry. Using both traditional and contemporary dance and movement, Beta Dance Troupe’s presentation is a compelling artistic interpretation of Ethiopian Jewish history and culture.
The festival is presented by the 92nd Street Y Resource Center for Jewish Diversity and Chassida Shmella: The Ethiopian Jewish Community of North America. Other events include an authentic Ethiopian Shabbat dinner on October 8 at 7:30 p.m., and an opportunity for Ethiopian Jews and Amharic speakers to celebrate Shabbat in their native tongue on October 9 at 12 noon. To purchase tickets to these events, visit www.92Y.org/Sigd.
Multi-Talented Ethiopian Dancer
by
Gellane Tadesse
gmtadesse@gmail.com
Ethiopian native Saba, is a multi talented dancer, choreographer and instructor. While growing up in Ethiopia she learned all of the different types of dances. Having this background allowed her to focus and explore, maintain, create and fuse different cultural and traditional styles. Her styles have been a mixture of African, middle eastern and other similar cultures.
Some of the genres of dance that Saba learned and trained in are Congolese Soukous, West African, Hip Hop and Belly dancing. She studied West African dance with the Franklin & Marshal College African Dance Group and with Sonya Mann-McFarlane of Imani Edu-Tainers. She studied belly dancing with Yasmina Ramzy and Denise Mireau of Arabesque Academy. Her hip-hop skills came from working with teachers at National Dance of Canada, DoDat and DLM.
When she is not performing, training and perfecting her art; Saba is a dance instructor and choreographer. She teaches belly dancing and belly dance fusion at Arabesque Academy and is also the lead dancer at Arabesque Dance Company. She directs and choreographs Javiah (Nouvet Expose Dance Troupe), a group that showcases African dance forms.
On the side, Saba has collaborated with many other dancers and has also modeled for a few different photographers. It’s rare to see someone so talented in many different areas. Her success is only beginning to soar and we can’t see what else she accomplishes.
You can see Saba performing events with Javiah and the Arabesque Dance Company, and take classes taught by her. All this information can be found on her website, www.sabadance.com.
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