Junior Melissa Marver was born to Israeli dance - or maybe just to Israeli dancers. The singer/dancer's parents met at an Israeli folk dance workshop in 1977 and have continued to pursue the hobby that brought them together, a hobby that their daughter is eager to bring to Tufts.
"I've been on this mission since I got to college to convince people that Israeli dancing is cool," junior Melissa Marver says with a laugh, sitting cross-legged on a plush armchair in Hillel's lobby, relaxing after an hour and 15 minutes of calling out and demonstrating dance steps simultaneously.
This is part of her latest effort for the cause: her creation of a Pass/Fail Ex College class, Israeli Dance, which she teaches two evenings a week in Hillel's basement. The class is based on starting from the bare foundation of the dance and building a repertoire.
Israeli dance, which can be categorized into line, circle and couple dances, is a high-energy dance form that reflects age-old traditions and current trends. Each dance is based on the song for which it was choreographed and is known by the original song's title. Marver teaches the Yemenite step, the Tcherkessiya and the Mayim step, among others, which comprise choreography for songs that are traditional or that may reflect Latin and hip-hop influences.
Marver is well-prepared to demonstrate roughly 200 to 300 Israeli dances, accrued by a lifetime of family trips to recreational Israeli dances every Sunday night at the University of Minnesota in her hometown, Minneapolis.
Now proudly carrying on the tradition here at Tufts, Marver has found that people haven't needed as much convincing as she thought. "People are actually more enthusiastic about it than I could have ever expected," she says. Some students recently founded a Facebook group called, "Israeli Dancing Makes My Life Complete," and many have expressed interest in possibly making the class into a student group after this semester.
The class performed at Israeli Food Night in Dewick in March, and Marver is planning an Israeli dance party to take place later in April. Meanwhile, class curriculum includes attending two recreational Israeli dances or lessons in the greater Boston area. By the end of the class, the students will know roughly 30 Israeli dances, and will have created original choreography for an Israeli song to be performed at the April dance party.
Though the engineering psychology major is busy as the Historian of Shir Appeal, a board member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and a Hillel board member, she keeps her artistic endeavors a priority.
Above all, Marver looks to her artistic expression as a way to remain involved in campus life. "It's perpetual motion," she says, "it's natural for me to be busy."
Marver couldn't always devote much time to her love of singing due to her schedule. She trained rigorously at the Hopkins School of Dance 10 to 12 hours a week in high school. But after dancing since the age of four in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical and modern dance, Marver knew she was ready to focus on singing when she entered college. She chose to audition for Shir Appeal because she felt a connection with the group.
"It's hard to explain," she says. "It seemed like the members of the group were people I'd like to spend a lot of time with."
Marver also finds that Shir has another appeal. "There's something really nice about getting to perform for people at synagogues that is more of an emotional experience. It can be more affecting than singing a pop song," she said.
Though Israeli dance and Shir Appeal are both religiously related artistic activities, this is actually unintentional, according to Marver. "It's more coincidence than anything else that my two main arts activities are religiously affiliated," she says. "I like having the outlet for singing and dancing."
Marver loves Israeli dancing "just because it's fun." She hopes to lead a recreational session next semester, continuing her "mission."
"I appreciate that it's involved with my religion," Marver explained, "But I also just enjoy the activity and want to bring it to more people."
