Dear Grants Intake Manager, , Zionists and Latin Culture lovers from around the world,
This is the story of the Israel Latin Dance Fund (ILDF) founded to promote, organize and advance the sport of Latin Dance in Israel. The ILDF organizes the Israel Latin Dance Cup (ILDC), a national competition whose winners represent Israel with glory in international competitions. Latin dance refers to ballroo
m-type dances that originated in South America, such as salsa, bachata and samba. Many countries have national competitions and send teams to compete in worldwide competitions. These competitions are full-blown artistic productions that are not only sexy and beautiful, but skilled and professional. Until 2015, Israel was not represented or welcomed in international competitions and held no national competition in Latin Dance. Although there are many dance studios, there was no competitive wing. Our Vision
Avi Ninio is a visionary who dreamed of seeing Israel represented all over the world by Israeli dancers representing their country with pride. After many years in the field, he became known as an entrepreneur in the field of Latin Dance in Israel, and his achievements include setting up the first ever university level teacher’s course in Salsa and Latin dance under the banner of the University of Tel Aviv. As founder of the ILDF and the ILDC, Ninio wears many hats. He is an ambassador of Israeli culture in the world and an ambassador of Latin dance in Israel. He is a dancer, a sportsman, a fundraiser, a businessman and a producer. He is an advocate for weaker populations, be it those who are at an economic disadvantage, or those with physical and mental differences. Ninio works together with Latin dancers, teachers and studios throughout the country. By establishing the ILDF, Ninio aims to take Israeli Latin dance teams to various international competitions where Israel has not yet been represented; to increase local and national Latin dance competitions while building Latin dance as an organized branch of sport; and to develop Latin dance among children and youth so that the next generation of dancers can bring pride to Israel on the international stage. He also plans to teach dance to populations who have never had the opportunity - people with physical, cognitive and mental disabilities. The First Israel Latin Dance Championships
Ninio is not only a dreamer, he is also an activist and an achiever. It all began when he contacted the chairman of the World Latin Dance Cup Organization to request that Israel join as a participating country. An excited Ninio contacted Latin dance studios, troupes and schools all over Israel to join under one umbrella, that he was proud to lead. The first ever Israel Latin Dance Cup was created under the auspices of the World Latin Dance Cup but as an independent competition, with an eye to participating in many other international competitions abroad. Through social media and networking, this groundbreaking idea spread to the dance community all over the country and the first production took place in August 2015 with 66 national competitors. With the backing of the international Latin Dance community, the ILDC competition made history when they sent the winners of the national competition to the international competition in Miami, Florida in December 2015 and returned home with 3 world cups. It was proof that Israel has a high level of Latin dance. A Source of National Pride
Ninio began to build an organizational structure, learning from other countries with a successful Latin dance organization. If the ILDF was going to be successful it needed to be professional, organized and suited to the Israeli dance community. The ILDC competition of August 2016 was twice as big. There were 116 dancers in the competition and almost 1,000 people in the audience who came to be part of making history when they enjoyed this entertaining and professional show. Thirty winners traveled to Florida in December 2016 and came home with 7 medals, three of them gold. This time, the dancers traveled under the official banner of the State of Israel, as sporting and cultural ambassadors for the country with a uniform, flags and financial backing from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. After every competitive win, the Hatikva (national anthem) was played and the Israeli flag proudly raised, bringing honor to our country. For the first time the ILDC became a known brand and a hot topic in Israel. Official Recognition
After this overwhelming success, Ninio met with the Ministry for Sport and Culture to begin the process of getting Latin dance recognized as a legitimate branch of sport, and receiving the appropriate financial backing. One of the conditions of recognition is more than one annual national dance competition. To this end, not only will there be the Israel Latin Dance Cup in August 2017, but Ninio is working hard to initiate the Israel Latin Dance Championships in the end of 2017, which will become an annual competition. The Next Stage
Plans are underway for the August 2017 ILDC that will have 150 competitors and send an even bigger delegation, including representatives of the Limitless Division, to compete and represent Israel abroad. We hope to offer differential subsidies for flights and/or hotel rooms to dancers at different levels so that we can continue to put Israel at the forefront of Latin dance on the world stage. Simultaneously, we will continue our activity promoting Latin dance in Israel and promoting Israel abroad. We predict a fantastic future for Israel in this field thanks to the many talented dancers who are finally receiving much needed support. The Limitless Division
Our fundamental aspiration is to teach dance to those who have never been able to dance before and accompany them to the competitive world stage. This is part of a global movement towards inclusiveness in sport. Many global dance competitions have a limitless division, a division made up of many different people; for example, a dance team who all have Downs Syndrome, wheelchair dancers, and a dancer who has only one leg. Bringing dancers with physical, cognitive, and mental disabilities to the international dance stage allows these people to bring great pride to their countries as well as inspiration to the entire world, and there is no reason why Israeli dancers cannot do the same. Israel has good dance studios and great dance teachers. We plan to hire a professional to work for the ILDF who will head this project and work together with dance teachers and studios to bring this project to fruition. Dancers who participate in the limitless division category in the Israeli competition will be taken abroad to represent Israel in international championships and will be completely subsidized by the ILDF. We plan to train a soloist, couple and a dance team. Artists Giving Back to the Community
Ninio believes that artists have much to share with the community and that we are uniquely placed to volunteer and bring joy to others. As part of our work to help less fortunate members of society, we teamed together with Bet Ashanti, an organization for youth-at-risk in Tel Aviv, and all ticket proceeds from the 2015 ILDC production went to them. In 2016 we joined together with the Municipality of the city of Petah Tikva to give away 200 tickets to cancer patients and people who are living in poverty. Attending any form of entertainment is an impossibility for people who do not have enough money for food and clothing, and we are proud that we could offer these people an evening of beautiful, professional enjoyment. In addition, our dancers do volunteer performances in old age homes all over the country, bringing some sparkle, music and excitement to the elderly. We will also run dance classes for youth at risk which provide tools for personal empowerment, self-confidence and physical development. A Model for Coexistence
Latin dancers from Israel come from many different sectors and identify with different religions, yet when we dance, we are one national unit. Together we are cultural ambassadors, fighting the BDS movement in the world through our successful unity.
*** Funding Request ***
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Please help the ILDF to make our vision into reality. Now that we have created a precedent for an Israeli Latin Dance Championship, we are committed to its growth. We’d like to ask you for your support to continue the work of the ILDF and the ILDC. Support us in helping Israeli talent to grow, compete and fulfil their dance potential. Your donation can help us to produce the 2017 national competitions, establish the infrastructure needed for a limitless division and enable our Latin dance team to bring pride to our country on the international stage. We look forward to hearing from you and to providing additional information at your request. Please contact our ILDF Team by leaving a massage here in our page. Thank you for your consideration. Yours gratefully,
Avi Ninio
Chairman & CEO
ILDF
