Pnina Klain

The lights in the hall, the music playing, the dance floor filled with people smiling, dancing, hugging.

This was not just another party. It was a celebration of life. A celebration of fifty years of dance.

As I stood there and looked around – at the dancers, the choreographers, the instructors, the friends, the family – I realized this was not only my celebration. It was a celebration of a journey. Of a field. Of a great love that has lasted five decades.

And then they ask me again: What have you done over the past fifty years?

And I smile.

How can you summarize a life of dance, people, sweat, joy, creativity, and giving – in one paragraph?

I am Pnina Klain. I have been an instructor of folk dance for fifty years now.

I am considered the legendary dance leader of Givatayim and Ramat Gan, and today also of Hod HaSharon – my new home.

Folk dancing is embedded in my soul. Not as a cliché – it’s truly so.

In my youth, I studied ballet with Mia Arbatova and Gertrud Kraus. I continued with representative dance companies in Israel and abroad. But my heart… my heart chose folk dance.

With the help of my instructor, Tirza Hodes z”l, I found a deep connection to people, to community, to roots, and to simple, shared joy.

For many years, I have been teaching and leading dance sessions in all the schools of Givatayim and Ramat Gan, raising generations of dancers and instructors who continue to pass on this love in Israel and around the world. At the same time, I initiated and led camps and seminars abroad, experiencing again and again how Israeli dance connects people from every culture and language.

From my large public dance sessions, the dance troupe “Re’ut” was born – a group that grew from the heart and performed in Israel and around the world.

My guiding principle has always been: people first, stage second.

Today, I lead dance sessions on Mondays at the magnificent “Ha’Shikmim” Hall in Hod Ha’Sharon, and on Wednesdays in Moshav Neve Yarak – beginners, intermediate, and advanced dancers all together, without barriers. At the same time, I manage the large public dance events at “Alon” School in Givatayim – a place that has been my second home for years. I do this voluntarily, out of a desire to provide active instructors with additional income and to continue nurturing the field of Israeli folk dancing.

For about fifteen years, I have also examined the next generation of folk dance instructors at “Campus Siim”, Tel Aviv University. Seeing young people enter this world of Israeli dancing with a sparkle in their eyes is a great privilege.

And life, like dance, also knows how to challenge us: I underwent robotic-assisted knee replacement surgery in both knees, and today, thank God, I dance through life without pain, with much greater gratitude and the same passion.

Few people know that in the morning, I am a medical cosmetologist specializing in advanced technologies, and in the evening, I am filled with new energy, coming to share all my joy with the dancers.

Over the years, the roles have reversed: dance has become my main focus, and cosmetology remains a beloved, yet secondary profession. I see myself first and foremost as a dance leader, choreographer, and dancer. Above all, one thing guides me: to bring joy to people and to pass on positive energy.

I am the mother of three children, grandmother to twelve grandchildren (and counting…), and happily remarried to Avinoam. Together, we are a large, warm, dancing family.

The mottos that have accompanied me all my life are simple:

“To dance is to live,” and “Smile at the world, and the world will smile back at you”.

And the party you see in the photos? It is not only a personal celebration. It is a celebration of a field. Of a journey. Of great love. Because fifty years – you don’t simply walk them by foot, and certainly not “by knee”.