By Donald H. Harrison and Nevó Bowne Mathis-Masury
SAN DIEGO – French-speaking Jews who live in the San Francisco Bay area brought a pro-Israel flash dance Sunday, Sept. 15, to Tuna Harbor Park adjacent to the USS Midway museum ship on San Diego’s Embarcadero.
“One Tribe/ One Star” cofounders Isa Marcus and Laurence Mechali said they formed their dance group in April to show support for Israel which had been suffering the traumatizing after-effects of the Oct. 7 massacre for a half year.
The dance was choreographed by Marcus’s 19-year-old daughter, Rose, and her roommate Eden, students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, who made the steps easy enough for novices to follow, yet interesting for more experienced dancers to perform. Elements included a wave of the dancers’ arms, representing the wave of love washing over the hatred brought against the Israeli people. A heart each dancer formed at the end of the dance represented the heartfelt support One Tribe/ One Star has for the Jewish community.
Rose videoed the steps for her mother. Marcus and Mechali then recruited other members of their Francophone circle to rehearse the dance in their living rooms. Marcus, who describes herself as an entrepreneur, lives in San Carlos, Mechali, who is employed by a software company, resides in Hayward.
The flash dance premiered at Crissy Field on the San Francisco side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Later in the year a contingent of the all-volunteer One Tribe/ One Star troupe traveled to the Los Angeles area, where they performed at the Santa Monica Pier.
In both places, as well as here in San Diego, tourists videoed the dancers and their pro-Israel signs that included such messages as “Bring Them Home Now” referencing the hostages still in Hamas captivity; “Stand for Democracy and Freedom; Stand with Israel;” “San Diego Stands With Israel,” “Stand Tall With Jewish Pride” and “We Stand With Israel.”
Although the troupe retains security guards for their performances, just in case, Marcus said that so far the joyous music and the happy dance have elicited smiles and support from onlookers, some of whom have joined the dancers. She said the troupe has not encountered hostility.
The USS Midway was not the only backdrop for the performance. Another was “Unconditional Surrender,” the 25-foot tall statue of a U.S. sailor kissing a nurse on V.J. Day, 1945, that sculptor Seward Johnson based on a photograph by Victor Jorgensen, closely resembling another famous photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt.
The troupe performed in front of and in back of the sculpture.
Completing a three-city tour of California, Marcus and Mechali have their eyes set on doing the pro-Israel flash dance in such other locales as Las Vegas, New York, Paris and Geneva.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. Nevó Bowne Mathis-Masury is an SDJW intern covering dance.
It’s about time somebody showing support for ISRAEL, all the lives they have lost in the initial attack, plus the hostages kidnapped by those animals. Those cowards always go after innocent non-combatants. What if the people who were killed in the initial attack were your family members , would you really care about the retailiation losses .All these protester for Palestine need to be sent there to help the people get rid of HAMAS,cause that’s who caused the problem….