The Nostalgia Project 1924-2024

Click here to see all dances in our Nostalgia Project


 

Israeli Dances - History & Stats

 
A large and growing movement of Israeli dancers worldwide want to include more of the 'original' or 'old style' dances into their dance sessions.

You can decide if you want to call them 'Nostalgia', or 'Vintage', 'Retro' or 'Second Generation'.
The range of Nostalgia dances are generally thought of as created before 1990.
 
This page shows you the total amount of ALL Israeli dances created from 1924 to 2024.
In terms of growth of dances:
1924 - 1 dance 1929 - 1 dance 1930 - 7 dances 1937 - 1 dance
Total 1924-1937: 10 dances

1940 - 3 dances 1950 - 17 dances 1960 - 40 dances 1970 - 52 dances
1941 - 17 dances 1951 - 6 dances 1961 - 14 dances 1971 - 27 dances
1942 - 1 dance 1952 - 6 dances 1962 - 15 dances 1972 - 44 dances
1943 - none 1953 - 15 dances 1963 - 5 dances 1973 - 37 dances
1944 - 10 dances 1954 - 9 dances 1964 - 19 dances 1974 - 46 dances
1945 - 9 dances 1955 - 17 dances 1965 - 8 dances 1975 - 26 dances
1946 - 4 dances 1956 - 13 dances 1966 - 9 dances 1976 - 63 dances
1947 - 20 dances 1957 - 18 dances 1967 - 8 dances 1977 - 61 dances
1948 - 24 dances 1958 - 21 dances 1968 - 21 dances 1978 - 96 dances
1949 - 8 dances 1959 - 23 dances 1969 - 50 dances 1979 - 83 dances
Total 1940's: 96 Total 1950's: 145 Total 1960's: 189 Total 1970's: 535

1980 - 96 dances 1990 - 197 dances 2000 - 172 dances 2010 - 329 dances
1981 - 61 dances 1991 - 182 dances 2001 - 209 dances 2011 - 321 dances
1982 - 59 dances 1992 - 302 dances 2002 - 243 dances 2012 - 324 dances
1983 - 95 dances 1993 - 161 dances 2003 - 229 dances 2013 - 259 dances
1984 - 97 dances 1994 - 182 dances 2004 - 202 dances 2014 - 260 dances
1985 - 111 dances 1995 - 165 dances 2005 - 257 dances 2015 - 279 dances
1986 - 145 dances 1996 - 203 dances 2006 - 202 dances 2016 - 294 dances
1987 - 135 dances 1997 - 193 dances 2007 - 207 dances 2017 - 278 dances
1988 - 146 dances 1998 - 233 dances 2008 - 292 dances 2018 - 281 dances
1989 - 132 dances 1999 - 168 dances 2009 - 279 dances 2019 - 266 dances
Total 1980's: 1077 Total 1990's: 1986 Total 2000's: 2292 Total 2010's: 2891

2020 - 188 dances      
2021 - 197 dances      
2022 - 180 dances      
2023 - 219 dances      


According to lore, the first Israeli dance created in the modern era was Hora Agadati in 1924.
 
1948, the year of Israel's independence, saw 24 new dances created.
In the 1950's there were less than 25 dances created every year.
Note the increase of dances created every year below!
 
TOTALS
442 dances before 1970
798 dances before 1978
977 dances before 1980
2054 dances before 1990 - more created in the 1980's than in all years before 1953.
1986 dances from 1990-1999 - almost as many created in the 1990's as in all years before 1981.
2292 dances from 2000-2009
2891 dances from 2010-2019
 
So much for the stats.
But now comes the enjoyable part, for you to browse through our list of Nostalgia dances and see which ones you may know, or have heard of. And, in some of them, read any comments or tidbits about the dance or the songs they derive from.

Click here to see all dances in our Nostalgia Project

 
Note:

Sometimes the numbers in different years may fluctuate, as a result of new research that arises, or as new dances are found or corrected. Please write to us at any time with corrections or comments.
In addition, these lists include a small number of international dances that are frequently done in Israeli dance sessions both in Israel and around the world and are considered part of the repertoire.
 
Nostalgia Dances is a joint project of Aura Levin Lipski and Gary Fox.
This page concept and creation by Aura Levin Lipski.

Date summaries and graphs on this page by Gary Fox.
Most of the comments in the Nostalgia Masterlist researched were written or collated by Gary Fox.

This would not be possible without the groundbreaking work of Jack Steel of the Israeli Dances.com Database.
 

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