Hadassah (dancer)
Hadassah Spira Epstein (December 30, 1909November 18, 1992), professional name Hadassah, was a Jerusalem-born American dancer, choreographer, and instructor specializing in Indian, Javanese, Balinese, and Jewish dance. Credited as a pioneer of Indian and Israeli dance in the United States, her choreography reflected both aspects and styles of ethnic and folk culture and her own deeply-held spiritual beliefs. Her signature dance, "Shuvi Nafshi" ("Return O My Soul") (1947) was based on a verse in Psalm 116. Hadassah began performing in New York City in 1938 and made her professional debut as a solo artist in 1945. She performed through the mid-1970s. She was widely praised for her choreography and performance; an obituary in The New York Times described her as "a performer of special eloquence". She opened her own dance company in 1950. Later she taught many students in the United States, and was a faculty member, board member, and chairperson of the Ethnic Division of the New Dance Group, the largest school of dance in New York. Early life Hadassah Spira was born in Jerusalem, Ottoman Palestine, on December 30, 1909. She was the eldest of five children of Rabbi Isaac Spira and Menucha Landau Spira. She had three