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The buds of modern dance can be found in Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. His lead performers at the time were Jewish dancers, Ida Rubinstein and Anna Pavlova, and the costumes and sets were designed by Léon Bakst, who was also Jewish. Vera Shabshai, Sophie Maslow, Jerome Robbins, Leonid Yakobson, Felix Fibich and others were also pioneers of modern dance. Many of them staged productions that conducted a dialog with Jewish dances and with traditions from the Jewish townlet (shtetl).
Numerous Israeli choreographers, including Berta Yampolsky and Ohad Naharin, have also created works of modern dance that communicate with Jewish themes. Modern dance in Israel continues to shift between works of a universal nature and interpretations that draw on Jewish motifs.
