By Bernice Malka

On May 15, 2008 I had the privilege to attend the premier of the TESFA Ethiopian Dance Troupe in Yokneam’s grand performance hall. I feel I must share the excitement with the readers, since this group of 10 amazing teenagers from Partnership's target population, between the ages of 16-18 would not have made it without the support of the Chais Family Foundation, Tesfa Foundation and Atlanta & St. Louis Federations.

There were over 400 people in the audience, and among them were the Mayor of Yokneam, the Deputy Ambassador of Ethiopia in Israel, parents, teachers, teenagers and other guests.

The group performed for an hour and a half and combined ethnic dance with modern steps, wearing new costumes that had been sewn especially for the performance, bringing a lot of pride to the Ethiopian tradition. This production is a result of hard work led by Meeka Yaari and Abebe Ajalu, the choreographers, along with a unique cooperation with the renown Bat Sheva dance group and of course, the hard work and commitment of the dancers themselves for 6 intense months.

Both Simon Alfassi, the Mayor of Yokneam, and Shimon Yifrach, the Director of the Community Center, emphasized in their greetings the importance of Federations' ongoing support to the Ethiopian community in general and to this group in particular.

The audience were all on their feet, applauding while the group performed their last dance. There is something to be said about Yokneam and the respectful way the city had chosen to honor the Ethiopian community, it’s tradition and it’s youth on the week of celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary. I felt proud to be a resident of Yokneam tonight. It was especially moving for me, since I know some of the performing girls on a personal basis, and I could see the progress they each made in their lives thanks to being part of this group.

This was an evening of joy and pride for these amazing teenagers proving that there are results to hard work.