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The Peak of a Whole Year · Under Ministry of Education SupervisionA national, accessible and adapted event, held once a year, bringing together special-education students from all across the country. An inclusive, empowering space where every student takes the stage, performs for a crowd, and experiences success, pride, and belonging to a broad national community. The conference is open to the general public — families, friends, and anyone who wants to attend — and of course, free of charge.
The mass dance — circle upon circle.
Each school performs its own dance piece, tied to that year's chosen theme. After the performances comes the mass dance: circle upon circle of schools, with every student dancing together the dances Ofir composed and taught.
A new adapted dance is created every year — and over time, this has built a full repertoire of accessible folk dances. A YouTube channel is also planned for the future, to help teachers learn the dances.
The conference was built for special-education settings with lower functioning levels — students who can't compete in athletics or volleyball. Over the years we realized that even students with higher functioning levels don't always find a stage — so today the conference is open to everyone, and every event brings together a range of functioning levels.
The condition of participation in the conference is a photo-consent form that every parent signs — so we can photograph, share, and celebrate as much as possible. Unlike other events for these populations, where faces are often blurred and the person behind the wheelchair sometimes isn't seen at all — here our students are proud, and seen.
As more schools join, the conference grows longer — and students' attention span at the event can't exceed about ninety minutes. That's why we open branches: the exact same conference — same structure, same artistic theme for that year — just with different schools, in a different part of the country.
Opening a branch requires at least 5 schools to join. We're aiming to reach the periphery too — and we're waiting for principals who want to lead a new branch.
42 schools · 5 districts (Haifa, Center, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and South).
42 special-education schools, across four branches, from five districts — and the circle keeps growing.
Over the years the conference has gained growing recognition — from guests of honor and stakeholders from all across the country.
Mr. Chaim Broide, Mayor of Raanana — dancing hand in hand with the students.
Mr. Eyal Ozeri, chairman of the Israeli and Diaspora Folk Dance Choreographers and Leaders Association.Among others, the conference hosted for the first time the chairman of the Israeli and Diaspora Folk Dance Choreographers and Leaders Association, Mr. Eyal Ozeri — a first step toward future collaborations. The conference in Raanana was also attended by the mayor, Mr. Chaim Broide, who danced hand in hand with the students.
We'd love to welcome your students into the circle. Let's talk about how to get there.
