Dance Of Creation

A combination of art and dance inspires a creative lesson at Chaye Olam.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
Staff-Writer

Clockwise, from top:

Artist Pablo Davis explains the
meaning of one of the murals.

S

porting matching multi-hued tie-dyed T-
shirts, Chaye Olam religious school stu-
dents showed how color, art and movement
helped them learn about creation.
The 40 students, grades K-6, helped lead a
June 11 Shabbat service of song and dance with
the presentation of a work of art they created
under the guidance of Detroit-based artist Pablo
Davis.
"They began working on the 'Dance of
Creation' last October," said Christine Dubov,
Chaye Olam's director of education. "The art-
work, which signifies creation, is actually two
murals: One is darkness and the other one is
light. And the children created it while dancing."
Meeting on a monthly basis with Davis, the
production of the wooden murals was a lesson in
art as well as Jewish history.
"Everything in the art and the dance was based
on different aspects of creation," Dubov said.
"And Pablo always related it to spirituality. He also
continually encouraged the children and always
referred to their gifts and their natural talents."
Davis, whose works are held by 17 museums,
including the Louvre in Paris, has an artistic
career that includes participating with Mexican
muralist Diego Rivera in painting the Detroit
Industry murals in the Detroit Institute of Arts.
His painting of former Gov. John Swainson hangs
in the Michigan Capitol rotunda.
In addition to participating in the mural proj-
ect — sponsored through a grant from the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's artists-in-
the-schools program — Davis's community
involvement spans generations. The Pablo Davis

Chaye Olam Cantor Stephen
Dubov yeaks to the students in
front of the two murals.

Ben Weiss, 5, of Farmington Hills
takes his turn holding onto fabric,
unraveled by Christine Dubov,
Chaye Olam's director
of education.

Christine Dubov instructs the
children.

Elder Living Center provides
affordable housing for Detroit sen-
iors as well as educational pro-
gramming for both seniors and
children.
The children began their work
on the murals by studying lines of
movement from Davis, who
instructed them how to move their
arms in space. "Then they used
these movements while drawing on
3- by-5-foot pieces of paper taped
all around the walls," Dubov said.
Prior to the unveiling of the
murals during the Shabbat presenta-
tion, the children shared the move-
ment and dance they learned. El