Hatikvah Dance Academy

Teaching, studies and community of Israeli and other Folk Dances

Israeli Folk Dance scenes

Christel Kamffer: Shalom! I'm Christel Kamffer and I'm 29 years old. I'm a Christian Afrikaner from Pretoria South Africa. I've been a student, teacher, choreographer and performer of Israeli Folk Dance (IFD) for the past 14 years. At age 15 I started to do Messianic Dance. I developed a love for Israel and its dance and music culture. My love grew and I wanted to know more about Israel's dance culture and develop my dance skills further in it. In 2012 I participated in IFD courses called “Machol Jozi” in Johannesburg and “Machol Europa” in England. The courses were led by top-class Israeli and Jewish IFD teachers and choreographers. After attending these courses, I decided to study IFD on a long-term basis. I've featured in numerous Messianic and Israeli Folk Dance performances. In 2016 I featured in a partner dance performance in Durbanville Cape Town with IFD teacher and choreographer Marcelo Marianoff from Argentina. In 2019- 2020 I went to do volunteering work near the place of origin of Israeli Folk Dance at Kibbutz Ein Hashofet. Currently, I'm studying Biblical Hebrew at the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies.