Bored with life and no money for a movie?
If you live in Jerusalem or have a way to get there, Thursday nights could be your ‘quicker-picker-up’ and a really great way to sweeten the end of the week.
From 8 pm to 11 pm every Thursday night, Mizrahi disc jockey Boaz Goel spins the greatest Middle Eastern Jewish hits and helps anyone who wants to come and learn how to move with “Rikudei Am” – Israeli circle folk dance.
This can be something as simple as doing a basic Yemenite step, or something more complex as the latest wedding dance movements you see at Moroccan affairs in fancy wedding halls. For those who don’t engage in mixed dancing, it’s enough even just to enjoy the music and a coffee on the side.
One thing you’ll know for sure – the ambience can’t be beat.
The action takes place in the ground floor level of Cinema City, home of the multiple movie screening rooms in the center of Jerusalem, a child’s paradise and frankly, a dream come true for any adult who needs a break from the mundane.
Comic book heroes are brought to life and standing by in true-to-size statues all around the building, which is brightly colored and filled with sound and light. Bakeries, eateries and other stores and gift shops line the sides of building leading to the elevators and escalators that bring one to the screening rooms on the next floor. Grab a pizza, dessert for Shabbat dinner, or just a snack for the way home. (If you get to the bakery late enough, you get a break on the cheese danish.)
For women who need a special pick-me-up, by the way, Israeli actress Gal Gadot, starring in ‘Wonder Woman,’ is still gracing the screen at Cinema City with her message of female empowerment. (And her husband’s tee shirt is still asserting his wife is better than anyone else’s, and still going viral around the internet.)
But anyone can be Wonder Woman after a night of watching folk dancing with the Middle Eastern music of Boaz Goel on Thursday nights, and best of all — it’s free.