Florida Atlantic University is thrilled to welcome the Jerusalem Ballet as they embark on their first-ever tour in the United States, bringing the elegance and passion of dance from Israel to South Florida this fall. The collaborative partnership between the Jerusalem Ballet and Florida Atlantic is set to bring a unique cultural exchange and artistic enrichment to South Florida in the fall of 2025. This initiative will showcase two evening-length ballets over two weekends at Florida Atlantics's University Theatre, offering students, faculty, staff, and the local community an opportunity to experience world-class performances with Jewish and Israeli themes.
Performance Schedule
"Houdini – The Other Side" (2023): October 25 – October 26, 2025 – Explores the life of legendary escape artist, Harry Houdini, through a dynamic choreographic interpretation of his life and inner struggles.
"Memento" (2019): November 1 – November 2, 2025 – Commemorates the heroic last acts of Jewish Polish ballerina, Franceska Mann, who courageously resisted Nazi guards in the Auschwitz extermination camps.
Your support will enhance lives, promote artistic excellence, and create lasting memories for both audiences and students. It will also help cover the estimated $200,000 in expenses for this exclusive cultural exchange.
Adam Greenfeld, a dancer, IDF veteran, and son of Holocaust survivors is the central figure in Nadya Timofeyeva’s Memento, which we aim to present in the United States.
An award-winning performer in international competitions, Adam has been dancing in a wheelchair for over 30 years. He was severely injured during his military service but chose to continue dancing – not out of pity, but out of belief in art and in life.
His name—Adam—is an acronym for Avraham, David, and Minek, three members of his family who perished in the Holocaust. His mother survived a selection at Auschwitz; his father dedicated his life to Holocaust remembrance. When the Pope visited Israel, he selected Adam’s father as one of six survivors to meet him personally.
In Memento, a neoclassical ballet based on the story of ballerina Franceska Mann, Adam is not merely a performer—he is living truth. His presence brings rare depth to the piece, evoking powerful emotional responses from the audience.
Adam and Nadya believe Memento must be seen beyond Israel. “We have to bring this performance to America,” they say. “So that American audiences – especially the younger generation – don’t see ‘just another Holocaust story,’ but feel a living pain, a reminder, a warning. We want America to cry with us – not from fear, but from understanding. So the world may understand: this is no way to live. And everything that happens in the world comes at a price. Because Memento is not just a ballet. It is an attempt to stop time and look once more into the eyes of those who are no longer with us. Through dance. Through the body. Through memory.”
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