"Israeli Dance is a form of dance usually performed to music from Israel, with dances generally created by people from Israel.

Many of the dances are of a folk style reminiscent of dances from Eastern Europe or other parts of the Middle East and have been influenced by modern ballet and jazz. Israeli folk dancing has come to life approximately in conjunction with the modern State of Israel. New dances have been created and introduced almost continuously in the more than 60 years since independence. In most of the dances, it is known who the creator is, and the dances are almost always associated with a specific piece of music.

Each Israeli dance is a fixed choreography or set of steps which go with a specific piece of music. A yotzer is a dance creator who selects a particular piece of music, usually Israeli, and arranges a set of steps to fit with that music. The formation of the dance might be a circle, couples, trios or short lines. The dance tempo may be fast or slow.

The Israeli dance movements themselves are quite varied. One might find elements with their roots in the Romanian horo, or the Arab dabke, or from traditional Yemenite life cycle celebrations, or perhaps from the Klezmer music and dancing of Eastern European Jews. Or perhaps the movements are more modern, borrowed from swing or salsa or even hip-hop."

What is Israeli dance today in the Washington metropolitan area?
In the DC/MD region Israeli dance can be found at Jewish smachot (Hebrew for celebrations), Jewish day schools, Jewish institutions and synagogues, and Israeli dance classes and special events.

Originally Israeli dance was created to unify Israelis and Jews together, with or without dance experience. Today, learning the over 5,000 modern and classic Israeli dances requires patience, practice, and determination. Mona is a trained markida (Hebrew for Israeli dance instructor) and excels at instruction, leadership, and providing a friendly atmosphere at all of her sessions. Mona's coaching aims to make the Israeli dance experience comfortable, aerobic, exciting, and entertaining for dancers of all levels of experience.

Mona's sessions
Mona currently leads three of the largest Israeli dance sessions in the DC/MD region. She leads the only Israeli dance session in DC proper, which is also the only session in the world that is geared towards young adults in their 20s and 30s.

Mona is skilled at:

- converting beginner level dancers into intermediate level dancers

- expanding the repertoire of dances in the area

- teaching circle, partner, and line dances into comprehendible parts with clear verbal directions

Mona offers:

- private lessons

- instructional CDs and DVDs