By Rebecca Crystal, Dance Journey

 

I didn’t panic. Not until I boarded my El Al flight from JFK to Tel Aviv and fully realized that I was about to leave my home for five months.

 

A concerned flight attendant noticed my anxiety and asked me where I was heading. When I told her Kibbutz Ga’aton, she said brightly, “Oh! That’s the kibbutz where everyone goes to dance!”

 

I breathed freely again. Indeed, it was the reason I’d chosen to spend a semester in the northern Israeli village.

 

While Ga’aton functions as a modern kibbutz supported by agricultural and industrial exports, it is also a "dance village.”

 

Set in the gorgeous upper Galilee, the main dance studio’s windows overlook the rolling hills...