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| Shalom from NOOA Dancers & Betty Schoenbaum at the Ringling Museum Entrance - Photo by Eric Hilton |
The NOOA Dancers from Sarasota’s Sister
City Tel Mond, Israel were brought to our community under the Sister City
Program that was founded by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 to
promote Citizen Diplomacy, understanding and friendship through educational
cultural and business exchanges. They were led on a bus tour of Sarasota by
Bill Wallace who wore the Sarasota/Dunfermline kilt and explained the Scottish
roots of Sarasota while getting an overview of our city today.
The NOOA troupe danced and participated in discussions with students at
Booker High School, Sarasota Military Academy, Riverview High School as well as
Sarasota’s Sailor Circus. The group also visited a Sarasota Ballet workshop and
got a preview of the original production of Sarasota’s Nutcracker starring
Mable and John Ringling.
The delegation attended the Kabbalat
Shabbat service led by USY at Temple Beth Sholom. They shared Shabbat Dinner as
well as the singing and dancing sponsored by the Temple Beth Sholom Men’s Club
with the USY and Kadima youth members and their families members of Sister
Cities and Host families.
The group danced at the 12th Annual
Holocaust Luncheon sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee as
well as the spectacular closing show which was co-sponsored by the Federation
and Sarasota Sister Cities Association. Local actress and director Carolyn
Michel emceed, produced and coordinated the mixture of traditional folk, ballet
jazz and interpretative dance numbers with backdrops of video and song. Alice
Cotman and her committee were beaming with pride as the troupe took their last
bow holding Israeli flags as well as an American flag after receiving Honorary
Citizenship Certificates from Sarasota Mayor Suzanne Atwell.
The group toured Mote Marine and the John
and Mable Ringling Museum with docents Toby Kline and Susan Johnson where they
had lunch with Betty Schoenbaum before going to the Chabbad Hanukah festival.
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| (left to right) Linda Rosenbluth, Avi Eliyahu (Tel Mond Cultural Center Director), Alice Cotman, Betty Schoenbaum, and Dr. Robert Rosenbluth (photo by Kim Sheintal) |
The Host Families made the delegation feel
the warmth of a family welcome and provided them all with unique Sarasota
experiences. Richard Hershorin and Ed Cotman were nominated by the group for
the Tel Mond’s Best Chef award.
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| NOOA group with Sarasota committee members tour Sarasota (photo by Eric Hilton) |
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| Sam Silverberg meets NOOA dancers after their performance (photo by Kim Sheintal)Tel Mond Dancers Impress Sarasota Community |