Tzuza Dance Company, which delighted the crowd at Tucson’s Israel festival in 2010, will return to perform at the Israel @ 70 Festival next month.
The community-wide festival will be held Sunday, April 22, from 1-6 p.m. on the Jewish community campus at River and Dodge Roads. It is organized by the Weintraub Israel Center, a joint program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
Shlomi Elimelech, the dance company’s owner, manager and choreographer, was just 16 when he founded Tzuza, which means “motion,” in Tucson’s sister city of Kiryat Malachi in 2005.
Tzuza’s main repertoire is diverse but the focus is on modern dance, folk dance, hip-hop and ballet.
In the last 13 years, Tzuza has become a leading dance troupe with more than 2,000 students across Israel, ages 3 to 50. The high quality of its performances, nationwide, has brought Tzuza media attention and invitations to take part in many official government ceremonies including the opening ceremonies of the Israel Independence celebration in Jerusalem and the Maccabiah Games, Israel’s “Jewish Olympics.”
Tzuza has performed in the United States, Mexico, South Korea, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Spain.
As part of building “people to people” bridges, Elimelech insists on having his dancers hosted by local families instead of staying in hotels.
“The dancers are my family,” says Elimelech. “We visited Tucson eight years ago and we are excited to come back to celebrate Israel @ 70 with old and new friends.”
To inquire about hosting a dancer, contact Amir Eden, director of the Weintraub Israel Center, at 702-465-9244 or aeden@jfsa.org.
