Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Israeli teen dance team wins gold medal at international competition in Spain

The Chopskicks from the Nirit Dance Studio in Modi’in came in first for their hip-hop performance called “Zombieland.”

The Chopskicks from the Nirit Dance Studio in Modi’in took home the gold medal in the hip-hop commercial mega crew category of the 2022 Dance World Cup (DWC) finals in San Sebastian, Spain, July 2022. Credit: Courtesy of 2022 Dance World Cup.
The Chopskicks from the Nirit Dance Studio in Modi’in took home the gold medal in the hip-hop commercial mega crew category of the 2022 Dance World Cup (DWC) finals in San Sebastian, Spain, July 2022. Credit: Courtesy of 2022 Dance World Cup.

An Israeli teen senior dance team took home the gold medal in the hip-hop commercial mega crew category of the 2022 Dance World Cup (DWC) finals in San Sebastian, Spain, reported The Jerusalem Post.

The Chopskicks from the Nirit Dance Studio in Modi’in won for their hip-hop performance called “Zombieland.”

The Dance World Cup—also referred to as the “Olympics of dance”—took place from June 24-July 2. Its competitions are held in the genres of ballet, modern, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, tap, song and dance, street/hip-hop and national.

The Chopskicks traveled to San Sebastian with three choreographers, as well as staff from the dance studio and parent chaperones, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The 23-member team trained for five hours a week to prepare for the DWC, said one of the dancers, 15-year-old Modi’in high school student Tzofi Rubenstein.

Rubenstein’s mother, Ziva, told the Post: “Dance is very connected to Israeli culture. Innovation and creativity in Israeli modern dance have made it a respected leader worldwide and now, with Chopskick’s win, Israeli hip-hop is on the global map.”

Israel’s senior and junior teams together won 18 medals at the DWC.

“Just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder and a lot more violently in the future if they don’t get their deal signed, fast,” President Donald Trump said.
“This is meant to make the job of the police and prosecutors easier,” Tara Cook-Littman, of the Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut, told JNS.
“No challenges were received during the public display period,” Shirley N. Weber’s office told JNS.
A 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship would include a penalty for protesters who breach it, though the state Assembly speaker said nothing has been agreed to yet.
“An event at a city-owned pool that was publicly and indiscriminately advertised as ‘whites only’ would surely violate the Constitution,” the executive director of the state Public Safety Office wrote. “The same must be true here.”
The gift from the Jan Koum Family Foundation is expected to triple the size of the Jerusalem hospital.