NJ Jewish News on-line | JCC's celebration of the arts: a festival of learning, friendship

The success of the 2007 JCC Maccabi ArtsFest, which came to a close Aug. 16 with gala performances in Deal, can be measured in numbers: Forty-five young artists from Monmouth County were among the more than 225 Jewish teens from Israel, North America, and Ukraine who took part in the celebration of the performing and visual arts.

But it can also be measured in the personal encounters of the teens who took part in ArtsFest, whose headquarters was the at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center at the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center of Greater Monmouth.

The festival's weeklong theme of building bridges encouraged the teen participants to reach out to each other on a personal, community, and global scale, according to ArtsFest director Lisa Karasic of Fair Haven.

"We were really blown away by the talent and dedication of these 225 young artists," Karasic said. "They learned and refined their skills, rehearsed like crazy, and put on a closing performance that was just superb. And they got to know and respect each other as individuals and artists. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome."

Engaging in the festival's theme was an integral part of the experience for Rosie Zagha, 15, of Oakhurst, who participated in the computer graphics category.

"I made a lot of great new friends, she said. "We're going to call each other, send e-mails, and hopefully visit each other. And in my computer graphics workshops, I learned a lot of different ways to change the pictures around and make them look really cool."

Lexi Dietrich, 13, of Ocean, also learned some new computer graphics software applications.

"I learned how to put more design in my pictures, which made them more creative and colorful," she said. "I think we all learned how to create computer graphics that really represented what we wanted to express. We learned to make them our own."

The efforts of the Monmouth teens and their fellow artists did not go unnoticed by Randy Topper of Staten Island, head of the Monmouth delegation.

"In just a few days, artists from every specialty came together," said Topper. "When I watched the musicians, singers, dancers, authors, computer graphics artists, and all the other participants combine their skills and present the finale, it brought tears to my eyes. It was very, very special."

Jess Levy, executive director of the Ruth Hyman JCC, said the festival was another positive example of outreach efforts within the Jewish community.

"To host so many talented teens from all over the world made it a very special week for our community," Levy said.

"These young artists will take with them a great learning experience and great new friendships. They exchanged the universal language of artistic expression, and that created a lot of common ground."

The festival, which ran from Aug. 12 to 17, concluded with an integrated artistic performance piece called "Bridges," compiled and directed by TV, screen, and stage actor Geoffrey Cantor, one of the festival's 10 professional artists-in-residence.

The integrated piece showcased acting, dance, and musical theater and performances of jazz, classical, rock, and pop music.

Throughout "Bridges," computer graphics selections compiled by ArtsFest participants were displayed on a rear projection screen, along with creative writing samples authored by other teen artists. Other prose pieces were read on stage by the young authors.

All the ArtsFest teens came on stage at the end of the performance to join together in singing "Lean on Me," which inspired enthusiastic applause — and a sing-along — from the audience.

ArtsFest participant Chelsea Kantor 17, of Morganville expressed her sentiments in "Speak," which pictured a bridge within a mixed media display. "The bridge in this piece is connecting my mind to the outer world," she said. "It's about self-expression."

And a real bridge — namely the one that stretches between Manhattan and Brooklyn — was a highlight of the week for dancer Victoria Moldavska, 16, of Ukraine, who stayed at the home of Judy Jacobs in Ocean Township. She was one of six teens from her country who participated in the ArtsFest with Baltimore's delegation.

Jacobs took Victoria and two other young Ukrainian artists to New York City during their ArtsFest visit.

"We went to Little Italy, Chinatown, the Statue of Liberty, and so many other places, but that bridge just fascinated me," Victoria said. "It was also my 16th birthday, and it was always my dream to be in New York on that day. It was another dream that came true for me while I was here."

The festival, which originated last year in Baltimore, was conceived by the national JCCs Association as a cultural counterpart to the annual JCC Maccabi sports competition. Local organizers had to do months of intricate planning for the festival; they were sorry when it ended.

"It exceeded our expectations," said Ruth Hyman JCC marketing director Jill Garbi. "All week long, we saw teens growing and blossoming. We saw talent develop and watched as new friendships were made. The festival was everything we hoped it would be."