Workshops and Residencies

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Working to Strengthen Communities

Working with Colleges and Other Dance Training Programs

Tallit Project

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"The first time I saw Rabbi Shira put on her tallit to "Ma Tovu" I knew this was exactly how I wanted to do it. I love to dance and this gave me a special way to communicate with God without using any words."        - Bat Mitzvah student

The Tallit Project brings together movement, song, study and prayer to make the simple act of donning a tallit into a beautiful ritual that binds a community together. The Tallit Project was created by Risa Jaroslow & Dancers in collaboration with Synagogue 2000.

Jaroslow and members of the Company teach workshop participants the simple choreography, which is based on the natural drape and flow of the tallit. It includes moments to be alone inside the tallit, and moments to connect with fellow congregants. Throughout the sequence, the unison movement of many arms, bodies and tallitot is deeply moving to be a part of.

The workshop can be completed in a few hours, or it can be expanded with study to encompass a whole afternoon. It is appropriate for groups as small as six or as large as 106.
The Tallit Workshop is for:
- Adults
- Day schools
- JCCs
- Havurot
- Teens
- Rabbinical and cantorial schools
- Study groups
- Camps
- Congregations
- Hebrew schools
And anywhere Jews gather in prayer.

"The Tallit Project gives participants the midrashic permission and power to interpret this ritual with their entire body. It provides the opportunity for a community to come together for study and expression, and leaves the community with a ritual which can be used and expanded upon long after the conclusion of the workshop itself." - Cantor Ellen Dreskin