International folk dance can be any of the ethnic dance genres that people dance for fun. The dances come from all regions of the world and are a wonderful illustration of what it means to be different. A dance from Western Europe will be different than one from sub-Saharan Africa, which will be different yet again from a dance from Asia. Our instructor, Donice Kaufman Stewart, says tonight’s class will begin with zener atik, an Israeli dance (which literally means “ancient songs”). It involves walking, clapping and counting, and when done to music also reflects Israel’s culture, teaching us what we might have in common with Israel, and what might be different.

We will be inviting some co-eds to join us for the class to join in the fun.

Donice Kaufman Stewart volunteers hundreds of hours each year, primarily in the disability community with a focus on those who are deaf or hard of hearing. She co-founded EARS (Emergency and Readiness Services) in aftermath of the 2009 flood, when it became apparent there was a need for emergency preparedness and alerting devices for those in the hard of hearing and deaf-blind community. She also works part-time with the Sprint Tennessee Relay Service, educating others about accessible communication such as TTY, Speech to Speech and Voice Carry-Over. Donice also is a textile artist. Her POSSIBILITY wall-hanging won the artwork competition for the 2018 national conference of The Arc of the United States.