VISIT BY ETHIOPEAN DANCE TROUPE
A day with JML
The Israeli dance troupe consisting of the 11 students of Ethiopian origin arrived in South Africa earlier this year. They were members, of a group which is well known in Israel as the Askesta Dance Theatre.
The history of their arrival in Israel is a remarkable story. Although the condition of Jews in worsened in Ethiopia, the government of their country would not allow the community to leave. Starting in 1977, many Ethiopian Jews began fleeing the country on foot after learning of the secret mission to take them to Israel. They walked through the desert to Sudan, where aeroplanes awaited them. Not all of them succeeded and many succumbed on the long difficult journey through the desert. This migration project became known as operation Moses. The secret immigration to Israel continued until 1980, when the project was terminated after receiving exposure in the press.
Most of the students who make up this dance troupe are from the University of Haifa, and arrived in Israel in 1984 as small children, with operation Moses.
J M L had the pleasure of hosting this wonderful group of remarkable young people and talented dancers for a day. They were treated to a “Grand Cape Peninsula Tour” which took them around the Peninsula and down to Cape Point.
They had an amazing day and many of them pledged that they would return to Cape Town as soon as they could.