Miriam Peretz On the Sacred dance of the Silk Road
Interview with:
z t e r e P m a i r i M
Hello Miriam, nice to meet you! You are currently based in the Bay Area (San Francisco, US) and are a performer and dance school director, busy with teaching, choreographing and organising (dance) shows, as well as your own solo performances, is that right? Can you tell us a bit about your (cultural) background? Who is Miriam Peretz? What should we know, to know you? Yes, I am currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area, however I am a bit of a gypsy spirit and tend to go between Israel (my original birthplace) and the Bay Area. I was born in Israel, but raised in the Bay Area, California since a very young age. After graduating high school I moved back to Israel, and since then have developed a strong dance following both in Israel and the Bay Area. My background is Moroccan Sephardi, and I am very connected to these roots. You specialise in ‘the sacred dances of the Silk Road’ & Middle Eastern dance and have travelled through many countries/ cultures and studied their dances.
58 ISPAHAN
Where, when and why did it all start for you? I actually started dancing at a very young age. In fact my mother gave me my name Miriam after the Miriam of the Bible who led the Israelites out of slavey to freedom with dancing and tambourine playing with the vision that I would become a dancer. Honestly, I have never really been very interested in anything other than dance and music. Dance and movement have been my means of communication with the world since childhood. Throughout my school years I delved into many forms of dance including- Contemporary, African, Cuban, Hawaiian, Flamenco and Middle Eastern. I also trained in the Brazilian martial art, Capoeira for many years. Every night of the week I was at a different dance studio, filing myself with as much culture and movement as I possibly could. It felt very much that I was searching for the dance form that would fulfill my souls ultimate expression in