28 July 25 • 2019
jn

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
S

unny Segal has been performing 
and dancing since age 7. She has 
been teaching Israeli dance in 
Metro Detroit and leading the Israeli 
Dancers group since shortly after she 
moved here 60 years ago. When she 
decided to retire, her students gave 
her an 80th birthday and retirement 
party, inviting participants from all 
past decades of the group. 
Twenty-six current and past danc-
ers came to a recent potluck lun-
cheon at the Southfield Civic Center, 
where the group has met in recent 
years. 
Sandra VanLeeuwen was born in 
London, England, in 1939. Her Dutch 
parents returned to The Hague in the 
Netherlands when she was 6 weeks 
old. When Germany invaded, the 
family went into hiding. Betrayed by 
Nazi-sympathizing neighbors, Sunny, 
her parents and a younger brother 
were sent to Bergen-Belsen. Liberated 
three years later, they returned to 
The Hague. Sunny’
s father died in 
1947 at age 38, shortly after the birth 
of a second son. In 1951, the family 
moved to Toronto. In 1959, Sunny 
married Detroiter Meyer Segal and 
moved to Detroit. 
She began teaching dance at the 
Beth Jacob School, a post she held 
for 20 years. In the early ’
80s, she 
began teaching Israeli dance, first 
at Southfield High School and then 

at the Jewish Community Center in 
Oak Park. That group continued, 
with a changing cast of characters, 
through all these years. Most recent-
ly, the dancers met at the Southfield 
Recreation Center.
The dance classes also featured 
Sunny’
s home-baked pastries, affable 
conversations, friendships and, on 
three occasions, courtship leading to 
marriage. 
Gail Berkove of Southfield, a pro-
fessional psychologist and an amateur 
Israeli dancer, recalls Sunny’
s skill 
with the bulky equipment and cas-
sette tapes required for dance classes 
in past years: “Nowadays, if you want 
to listen to a particular tune, you can 
easily upload it onto your computer 
or phone,” Berkove said. 
“You are the ‘
mother’
 of Detroit 
Israeli dancing!” Berkove wrote in a 
tribute to Sunny. “More importantly, 
you have been my dance mentor and 
friend since 1981. You brought Israeli 
dancing to the community over 40 
years ago. I started learning Israeli 
dances in your basement, along 
with a wonderful group of women, 
many of whom are no longer with 
us, including Manya Feldman, Drora 
Kleinplatz, Nanette Kapustin, Hanna 
Silverstein and Ethel Baumer … I 
haven’
t stopped dancing since.”
Phillip Litt, former Detroit Israeli 
dance instructor, now living in 

California, wrote: 
“We all participated in Sunny’
s 
dance sessions because it was a fun 
place where our lives where enriched. 
Not only did we exercise, socialize 
and make lifelong friendships, but 
also some of us found there our soul-
mates. Sunny was the matchmaker 
for Cheryl and me that resulted in 
a successful marriage for which I’
m 
grateful. What a wonderful life we 
all had because of Sunny’
s dance 
sessions. She encouraged happiness 
by reminding us often to smile. We 
always went away from the dance ses-
sions feeling satisfied and filled with 
joy and happiness.”
Cheryl Feit of West Bloomfield, 
now an instructor of Israeli dance, 
writes, “I want to express my grati-
tude toward Sunny as she patiently 
guided me and other beginners 
in our first attempts to do Israeli 
dance. That was the beginning of so 
many of my closest friendships.” 
Students recall favorite sayings of 
their teacher: “Your feet can learn the 
steps, but only your spirit can dance” 
and “Dancing feet are happy feet.”
Janelle Teger of Southfield recalls 
that, when necessary, she would get 
a babysitter to make sure not to miss 
Sunny’
s class. Teger notes that Sunny 
made the class so vital — “like her 
name, upbeat, smiling. You’
ve so 
enriched all of our lives.” ■

jews d
in 
the

LEARN ISRAELI DANCE
Although Sunny Segal’
s Israeli Dancers 
group has now ended, two Israeli 
dance groups remain open, with a fee 
for each session. 
• Tuesdays 7:30-9 p.m. at CelyFIT, 
3308 Northwestern Hwy., West 
Bloomfield, led by Rochelle Morais 
and Melissa Ser. The second and 
fourth Tuesdays are for women only. 
Check the Metro Detroit Israeli Dance 
Facebook page for more information.
• Wednesdays 8-9:30 p.m. at the 
Sports Club of West Bloomfield, 6343 
Farmington Road, north of Maple. This 
group does intermediate and advanced 
Israeli dancing, led by Cheryl Feit 
and Gordon Smith. Contact Gordon at 
our4feet@dentabyte.com or Cheryl at 
(248) 613-7526.

COURTESY GAIL BERKOVE

Sunny Segal retires after 60 years, but her dance legacy lives on in her students.

LEFT: Celebrating Sunny: 

Former dancers and guests 

gathered recently for a birth-

day/retirement celebration.

BOTTOM: Israeli Dancers 

group, 1994: Jack Adler, Gita 

Raymer, Monya Feldman, 

Elaine Casson, Jenni 

Blustein, Sunny Segal, Cheryl 

Feit, Gordon Smith, Sonny 

Lipenholtz, Gail Berkove and 

Jan Penny.

CREDIT: GORDON SMITH

Israeli Dance Master

Meyer and Sunny Segal

CREDIT: GORDON SMITH