For me, to write about Yoav in the past tense is inconceivable. Yoav was an inseparable part of my childhood and my youth. Yoav engendered my love of the country, through wonderful songs and through dance. For me Yoav was always an exemplar, the scion of a generation that did the unbelievable: it built a state and within it, created a unique culture.

To express my feelings? I don’t know how to express myself in words without sounding pathetic. So I’ll say it simply. I loved Yoav and he will always have a warm place in my heart. I think about him a lot…

We first met at the Bialik School in Holon. That’s when the flame was first ignited for my love of music, rhythm, movement and their combination and this has made me who I’ve become throughout my entire life. I will never stop thanking Yoav for this.

 Eventually, I joined his dance troupe and appeared at the Dalia Dance Festival. Later on, when I was a soldier, I continued to appear with the troupe during furloughs at “The Theater Club”. I continued in an instructors’ course whose teachers included Yoav, of course, Gurit Kadman, Tirza Hodes and many other important choreographers and instructors. I’ll never forget the final exam when I was asked to teach soldiers the dance, “Erev Ba”, with no musical accompaniment, except for me singing. In all modesty, I say that I think Yoav was very satisfied with me at that moment.

As time went on, our relationship became stronger. Yoav would play melodies for me over the phone and we would exchange opinions. I think he occasionally listened to my suggestions and I was greatly honored by this.

At one point, I took it upon myself to document on video the dances created by the great choreographers for the sake of future generations. Among them were those of Shalom Hermon, Yankele Levy, Eliyahu Gamliel, Rivka Shturman, Yonatan Gabay, Tamar Alyaor, Bentzi Tiram, Moti Elfasi, Moshe Telem, Eli Ronen, Victor Gabbay, Avi Peretz, Chayim Shiryon, Marco Ben Shimon, Zvi Friedhaber, Ya’akov Kimchi, Moshe Eskayo, Dani Dassa, Danny Uziel with Ruth Goodman, Shlomo Bachar, Israel Yakovee, Yankele Dekel, Zvi Hillman, Shauli Rosenfeld and others. Many of them consider this a lifetime enterprise, an important asset, a treasure that includes the body of work of an entire era and this will remain forever. I dedicated an important chapter of this project to Yoav.  I clearly remember the day he turned to me and asked me to film all of his dances. I was proud of the trust he gave me and I worked with pride and great respect. Today there are three discs that contain all of Yoav’s creations. I’m proud that I was chosen to be part of this project.

I also remember that on his last trip to the United States he asked me to film three dances that Mira had greatly loved, among them was “Yatzanu At”, with the participation of his daughter, Rakefet. We set aside a full day to film this and I was very excited about doing it. I’m happy to have this memory. I will add that, for me, Yoav was and always will be not just a revered teacher and friend, but a story of Life. This is how I will always remember him.