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CHAI IS ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC
By ELAN MARCHINKO, Chai Artistic Advisor of Dance
When I think of Chai’s upcoming show, The Mountains Will Dance, visions of “The Sound of Music” spring to life in my head, particularly the title song, “The Hills Are Alive.” In this scene, Dame Julie Andrews, as the spirited postulant, Maria, is nourished by the hills that sing with her pristine soprano voice. But just beyond the hills are the Berchtesgaden Alps. Instead of being inert backdrops, the mountains also sing. The mountains are alive. The mountains dance. It is these Alps that will sustain the Von Trapp family as they flee Nazi occupied Austria to seek exile in Switzerland—at least in the Hollywood version.
As immoveable as they seem though, mountains, like people, are not monoliths. Each one is its own ecological universe. There is no singular definition of all that a mountain is. In gestation for millions of years, they are born of tectonic forces and rise from the ashes of volcanoes. Once they cease growing, mountains are vulnerable to erosion and return to the earth just as slowly as they emerged. In fact, many Indigenous artists working on Turtle Island and abroad have long created works that examine mountain ranges as the kinetic spinal cords (Raven Spirit Dance) or backbones (Red Sky Performance) of Mother Earth.
Indeed, the songs and stories of the land now known as Canada have much to teach us. As a settler-Canadian who grew up in Winnipeg, on Treaty One land, the homeland of the Métis Nation, I am just scratching the surface of these stories, which is why it is so important that the Asham Stompers will be part of Chai’s concert. Founded by lead dancer Arnold Asham, the performers, who are of Métis and First Nations heritage, reclaim the history of the Métis people through dance. Accompanied by Power Fiddler Shawn Mousseau, the Asham Stompers care for the past and future in the present. Through the exuberant Red River Jig invented at the historic Forks site of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers in the early 1800s, the dancers reach through time to heal and empower the next generations of Indigenous youth.
As curators of the dance, music, and song of the lands and cultures Jews have touched, Chai is an intercultural folk ensemble. As such, Chai continues through the power of art to transcend not only geographic borders but the borders of Jewish and Israeli performance. Due to shifting borders, trade, and the migration of people, whose memories and cultures migrate with them, Jewish music is as vast as the diaspora. Part of the diaspora are the Jewish people of Hungary, who comprise roughly 80,000 of the country’s population. So, it is equally important that Winnipeg’s Kapisztran Hungarian Folk Ensemble will also perform. Established in 1960, Kapisztran is a staple of Winnipeg’s annual Folklorama celebration. While the company does not identify as a Jewish organization, Jews and non-Jews find common ground through the Hungarian folklore, song, dance, and food that they share.
Finally, the concert will feature several works by beloved guest choreographer and flamenco artist Rebeca Shamah. This includes the debut of Yemen Blues, created entirely over Zoom from her home in Puerto Rico. Shamah’s piece depicts the journey of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. A blend of Yemenite and contemporary dance forms, Shamah explains that the dancers begin rooted in “the earth that they are going to leave, and finish in the new earth that they are standing in at the end.”
“The Mountains Will Dance” evokes themes such as exile and return, the power of intercultural performance, and the sublime music and overwhelming majesty of the earth.
Please join Chai in concert on Thursday, June 22nd at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Tickets are available online at www.chai.ca or phone 204-955-0069.
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First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
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Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
