Rivka Sturman

Rivka Sturman (; 17 January 1903 – 2001) was an Israeli choreographer known for the creation of around 150 new folk dances.

Life Rivka Weinwurzel was born in Warsaw, which was then under the control of the Russian Empire, to Ya'akov and Genia Weinwurzel. She had six older siblings: two brothers and four sisters. In 1905, Weinwurzel's family moved to Leipzig, Germany, where her father worked as a lace merchant and her mother assisted with lace sales. As a teenager, she met choreographer Gurit Kadman. Weinwurzel completed high school at a Jewish school founded by Ephraim Carlebach. Sturman continued to study dance, now working with instructors in Tel Aviv, including Gertrud Kraus, Paula Padani, and Tehilla Ressler. Sturman began choreographing plays put on at kibbutz Geva.

Folk dance creation Sturman became interested in creating new folk dances in 1942, after seeing some of her daughter's young classmates dancing to a German song. At the time, Israeli dance primarily consisted of dances that had been created in diaspora, and largely in the Slavic and Balkan regions. The type of Zionism in En-Harod strove to "negate the Diaspora," so Sturman became inspired to create new Jewish folk dances for the residents of En-Harod and beyond. That year, Sturman choreographed her first folk dance, titled Ha-Goren (The Barn Floor or threshing floor), to music composed by Emanuel Amiran with words by Sara Levi Tanai. particularly "the step-bend, the restrained, erect bearing, and the special abrupt rhythm", and referred to some of her dances as dabkes. By the 1950s, Sturman's dances were being influenced by Bedouin, Yemenite, and hasidic dances. where young dancers from Ein Harod performed Ha-Goren and another dance (Sources vary, naming both Ani ro'eh tzoni and Rikud habe'er as possible performances). At the 1947 Dalia Festival, Sturman exhibited her dance Harmonica. She asked Emanuel Amiran to compose the music, to which he agreed. She had been introduced to the step while visiting a Yemenite Jewish refugee camp in Atlit. In later decades, Sturman traveled abroad to countries such as the United States to teach workshops on Israeli folk dance.

Works Folk dances Source Be-Mehol ha-Shnayim (Dance for Two, 1949); composed of Dodi Li (My Beloved Is Mine) and Ve-Iti mi-Levanon (With Me from Lebanon) Le-Or Havazzelot (By the Light of Lilies, 1949) Be'er be-sadeh (Well in the Field) Im Hupalnu (If We Were Knocked Down, 1949) Hineh Mah Tov (See How Good, 1950) Zemer Lakh (A Song for You, 1950) Nizzanim Niru ba-Arez (Buds Are Seen In the Land) Megadim (Choice Fruits) Shu’alim Ketanim (Little Foxes, 1950) Magash ha-kesef (The Silver Platter, 1951) a-Yiven Uzziyahu (And King Uzziah Built, 1952) Ahavat Hadassah (Love for Hadassah) Horah Eilat Ve-David Yefe Einayim (David of the Beautiful Eyes, 1953) Yarad Dodi Le-Ganno (My Beloved Has Gone Down to His Garden, 1955) Zemer Atik (Ancient Song, 1956) Eh ha-Tal (Where Is the Dew, 1957) Eten Ba-Midbar (I Shall Plant in the Desert, 1959)