Holidays and Memorial Days

Dearest Friends-

So much has happened since I last wrote, but then again it has also been some weeks since I actually took the time to write… I feel like every other day I am saying Chag Sameach. The spring is full of holidays/memorial days.  First there was Pesach, which I wrote about. Shortly after that was the Holocaust Memorial Day.  There was a televised service at the Ghetto Fighter’s Museum (the Holocaust museum of the north), which we participated in. I couldn’t understand what was being said, but it was a very visually pleasing ceremony.  Technically, there were a lot of faux-pas which made our section a little bit dangerous to perform, but on television, it looked quite cool. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R979p-C5ZO8

A few days later a memorial day for the soldiers who have died for the state of Israel was observed. There was a really touching ceremony for the 4 soldiers who have been lost in the history of the Kibbutz.  The service commenced as the air raid alarms were sounded. I don’t know if any of you have had the unfortunate experience of hearing the things sounded, but it really is terrifying. The alarms are extraordinarily loud and all at slightly different pitches from one another which make your ears feel like they are about to explode. What is really terrifying is how life seems to stop for the minute they are sounded in memory of those lost. Cars stop in the middle of the road and people stop talking and moving all together. Everything is frozen. It’s eerie! The actually ceremony was a compilation of video archives, musical interludes and dance. I choreographed a short dance for a bunch of women. It turned out to be really beautiful and everyone seemed to appreciate it!

The following day was Independence Day.  The evening before there was a huge bonfire as well as fireworks and burning sculptures which were really very epic. If you can, you should try to picture a giant, spinning menorah in flames and firey words zooming through the air on zip-lines. It was crazy! The next day, the Kibbutz smelled like one large BBQ. I went to a BBQ at which I consumed more meat than I have since living here.  As a consequence of my gluttony, I spent at least an hour in bed with a severe stomachache. It was completely worth it, though! We are almost done with holidays. I think we only have Lag B’Omer left and then the state of Israel will be holidayed out!

This week we’ve been having showings of our pieces for the first of two major performances we will be producing.  The first show is completely comprised of our own choreography. My showings both went really well and I cannot wait to see them on stage. I am really proud of what I am producing.  I will be sure to post links to the final products.

I am kicking off this weekend with a second (of many) epic pizza nights!  Last time we made 4 pies, but tonight I think we’re aiming to make a 5^th! It’s an excellent, hard earned reward. Tomorrow, I am off to Tel Aviv to hopefully enjoy the beach (though it’s supposed to rain) and city life and see a show of independent Israeli choreographers. I have been looking forward to the show for quite a while.  Supposedly a good number of the employees of the train system were fired/arrested so we’ll have to try to find an alternate route to get there.  It’s always an adventure here…

I’m off to the studios again. Sending my love as usual! Hope all is well. Love, Marissa

Ps: For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing my video, you should check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht2BYIEraFQ  It’s clearly nothing serious, but a product of a bored evening/ me sharing my special talents with all of my friends. Enjoy!