Aviva Speigel – ATARA Contributing Board; Dancer – Tzfat, Israel

Aviva Speigel founded and produces the Tambourine Dream Festival in Israel. She also produces many other events and celebrations for women in Tzfat, Israel, and teaches dance improv, creative art workshops, and “Gym-dance-Shticks” for women and girls. Aviva is passionate about connecting women together so that we can help each other to move deeper into connection with ourselves, each other, and haKadosh Baruch Hu. Prior to making aliyah, Aviva co-directed the Chabad House Jewish Student Center at the University of Oregon with her husband Rabbi Asi. Aviva received her degree in Human Biology from Stanford University with a concentration in Psycho-Bio-Social Aspects of Identity and Expression and what should have been a minor in Contact Improvisation Dance, which she took almost every quarter of her university career! The techniques, format, and endless playful exercises of the school of Contact Improvisation Dance have been fundamental in the formation of her workshops. Trained as a competitive gymnast, a pianist, and an avid skiier, Aviva’s passion remains with dance, music, and pushing her limits in harmony with the natural world. Before opening Chabad in Eugene, She organized and ran creative art and movement workshops for women and girls and two successful all women’s performances in Jerusalem and New York. Her journey to Yiddishkeit began with her intense interest in holisitic healing, which led to several grants to research concepts of Jewish health and healing in Israel, and ultimately a thesis for University. This research project opened up the path for Aviva to delve more deeply into her Jewish roots. A passion for healing and personal transformation as well as an unwavering mission of spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus forms the central motivation for the creation of her classes and workshops for women.

Tambourine Dream Festival Site: http://tambourinedream.weebly.com/

Tambourine Dream Festival Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT0QZDgyt8w

Videos By Aviva:

https://vimeo.com/queenjoviva

https://www.youtube.com/user/queenjoviva17