03/20/2026
You can never have too many thank-yous!
A huge shout-out to everyone who made Festival Hatzafon 2026 special:
🌿 Melodie Greyeyes – for your heartfelt land acknowledgement and additional dance blessing Israel
✨Jayden Leung & Rachel Kondor – for performing the Canadian & Israeli anthems
🎤 Jayden & Kingsley Leung – for MCing with flair
🎥 Reel Mensch Studio – for professionally filming every moment on stage
💙 Sari Uretsky & Abby Wright – for the countless hours of dedication to bring the show to life as Artistic Director and Assistant Artistic Director.
👯♀️ Rikud Academy Teachers – for teaching the next generation of Israeli dancers with passion, patience, and joy.
🙌 Volunteers – who helped before, during, and after the show. A special shoutout to JCC Maccabi® participants for volunteering to watch the children during the performance, Rebecca Asbell for creating the beautiful welcome gifts for our guests from out-of-town and helping set up ticket sales, Natalie Soroka for welcoming guests and managing check-in, Aliya Spigelman for organizing the beautiful reception, Mintoo Basahti’s sponsorship outreach, and Jenna Vetsch for keeping the community in-the-know and the dancers well fed.
❤️ Parents – for supporting & investing in your kids’ love of dance.
🤝 AIFDA Executive & Westbury Theatre staff – for all the behind-the-scenes support.
🎭 Stage Manager , Backstage Runners & Volunteers – Jen Magel, Cleo Magel, Cassidy Galba, Meirav Or, and Marilyn Glick for helping the show run smoothly.
🌟 Orr Chadash (Vancouver) – for sharing your love of dance with our audience. Thank you for making Festival Hatzafon 2026 unforgettable!
And lastly, for our dancers of all ages–they show up weekly to learn, have fun, and grow through Israeli dance. We are so proud of the way you celebrate dance, culture, and connection.
