While thousands of teen athletes swarmed basketball courts, baseball diamonds, swimming pools and countless other venues during the JCC Maccabi Games, a smaller group of teen artists, musicians, actors and writers gathered in Fairfax, Va., to participate in the JCC Maccabi ArtsFest, held July 27 through Aug. 1.
The JCC of San Francisco and the Osher Marin JCC sent delegations to the weeklong session designed to inspire Jewish teens’ creativity through a series of workshops, lectures, performances and exhibitions.
Nine teens from the JCCSF — a group that included creative writers, rock musicians, actors and computer animators — honed their skills alongside eight Osher Marin JCC delegates. Unlike the Maccabi Games, where competition is emphasized, at the ArtsFest roughly 250 participants worked and learned together while strengthening bonds to their Jewish heritage, community and Israel.
“To go to something like this and be with other kids who like all the same things they do is amazing,” said Jackie Lewis, the games director for next year when they come to San Francisco. “They really spend all day creating together.”
A full week of arts specialty workshops, rehearsals and practices culminated with gallery exhibitions, rock concerts and closing parties, giving teens the opportunity to show off their talents.
Both JCCs plan to send delegations to next year’s ArtsFest, which will be hosted by the Merage JCC of Orange County.
Meanwhile, the JCCSF delegation recently rounded out a week of competition, Aug. 17 to 22, at the JCC Maccabi Games in Detroit held in West Bloomfield, Mich. The San Francisco team was the only JCC from the Bay Area to participate in these games.
Early in the week, the delegation had accumulated six medals (three gold, two silver and one bronze) in the dance competition, and the medal count continued to climb as the week wore on.
Meredith Charlson grabbed a bronze medal in the junior solo modern class for “Frisky Business,” while Gillian Cooper returned to the Bay Area as a silver medalist for “Almost Lover,” a performance in the senior solo lyrical class.
Cooper also scored silver in the senior duet/trio category, teaming up with Avital Pelman in “Ain’t No Sunshine,” while Pelman earned a silver in the senior solo hip-hop category for “Get Up, Stand Up.”
Evan Kharrazi won gold in the junior solo jazz class for his performance “Electricity From Billy Elliot,” and grabbed another gold for “By Myself,” which he danced with Danielle Landress, Pelman and Leah Rosenbaum in the senior small group jazz category.
The 16-and-under girls’ volleyball team earned a silver medal after falling to Vancouver in the gold-medal round.
In swimming, Samantha Dame took home two golds and three bronzes, while Noa Berzon nabbed two golds, two silvers and three bronzes.