Author Archives: Erica

About Erica

Erica Goldman began Israeli dancing in New York as a child alongside her father, another folk dance fanatic. After many years performing with several New England area Israeli dance troupes, she branched out into other kinds of folk dance as a member of the Mandala Folkdance Ensemble and then the Collage Dance Ensemble, with whom she competed at the Golden Karagöz Folk Dance Competition in Turkey in 2003. In 2004, Erica spent the summer as the Dance Director of Camp Alonim (at the then Brandeis-Bardin Institute), a Jewish overnight camp where Israeli dancing is truly an obsession among the campers. She was hooked; after working for nearly eight years for a software company in Boston, she quit her job and moved to L.A. and has been teaching Israeli dance nearly full-time ever since, both in the US and abroad. Erica was the Israeli dance teacher at New Community Jewish High School in Los Angeles and also coordinated their Israel exchange programs with three high schools in Tel Aviv until 2014 when she returned to the East Coast for grad school. A grateful Wexner Fellow, Erica earned her MBA from the Heller School and her MA in the Hornstein Program for Jewish Professional Leadership at Brandeis University, and now is Director of Program and Operations at JPRO Network. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Shana Tova!

שנה טובה! My dear dancing friends, I wish you all the best in 5775 – health, happiness, contentment, joy, laughter, perspective, adventure, love… and lots of dancing! Very warm wishes for a sweet year to you and yours. Gut yontif! … Continue reading

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Two weeks to go…

My dear dancing friends, I hope you will join us this Monday night for my last regular Monday night Mostly Couples session… after six years! And definitely don’t miss my real last night (and going-away party?) on Sunday August 3rd … Continue reading

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Tango Leshnayim – ‫טנגו לשניים‬‎

Marco’s coming, Marco’s coming! July 15th – don’t miss it! This week we learned his Karmiel-winning “Tango Leshnayim” – practice here:

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Romeio

Happy Summer, y’all! Harel and I each move(d) up to camp this week, so summer is really here! Just before Rikud, we (re)-learned Dudu Barzilay’s 2001 dance “Don Kichote” and last week we also learned his new dance, “Bein Haptziot” … Continue reading

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Achshav Linshom – עכשיו לנשום

I am obsessed with the loveliness of both this song and this dance. I hope you love it too! See you tonight – we’ll review this and learn Dudu’s Don Kichote in advance of his coming to town at the … Continue reading

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Como Baila – קומו ביילה

Last year I was in Israel on Yom Hazikaron, a powerful and moving commemoration day in a country where the wounds are all too fresh. And then, the incredible transition into celebrating what is here, now, and what we love … Continue reading

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Hanigun Shelcha – הניגון שלך

My dear dancing friends, I hope you had a wonderful Pesach and a great night dancing with Harel. I missed you! Here’s a video of Gila Paz with the dance that Harel taught – “Hanigun Shelcha”. It’s being done everywhere … Continue reading

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Zer Shel Shoshanim- זר של שושנים

No dancing next week because of Pesach! I hope you enjoy the seder with your family or friends and have a wonderful celebration of freedom. Tonight we learned Avner Naim’s dance “Zer Shel Shoshanim”. Huge thanks to Liatt for teaching … Continue reading

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Review Night 3/31 – tomorrow!

After our last review night, I got so many requests to do it more often- here we go! Tomorrow night we’ll go over a handful of the great stuff we’ve learned recently – so come on time and catch up … Continue reading

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HaPetza Shegaram Haosher – הפצע שגרם האושר

Thanks for welcoming me back with such a great night! It pays to fight the jetlag when we have such a fun evening of dancing together 🙂 I taught Hapetza Shegaram Haosher, a dance by Shlomo Maman that I saw … Continue reading

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