Where did you come from, where did you go? Long past midnight, somewhere on Rothschild in Tel Aviv, one of the many bands lining the boulevard starts playing “Cotton-eyed Joe” and everyone is dancing.
I didn’t get where I wanted to go that night, it took me over two hours to get into Tel Aviv. My White Night began waiting at the bus stop for nearly an hour. When the bus finally arrived, it was full of people and didn’t stop. I would have hailed a cab, but all the cabs that drove by were full. When I finally flagged down an empty cab, the driver refused to take me to Tel Aviv, he said the streets were too crowded.
He was right. The city was so packed with people and cars it was almost impossible to move. I had a mental list of places and things I wanted to see, but the city had a different message for me: abandon plans all ye who enter here. I followed the crowds…I didn’t get where I wanted to go, but I was exactly where I wanted to be.
Three fellow wanderers with cameras shared their images of the night with Midnight East: Ma’ayan Dekel – actress, Megan O’Neill – writer and web video creator, and photographer Elizur Reuveni.
Somewhere in the noisy crowd, a lone dancer stood out in the crowd. Maya Resheff, a dancer in the Vertigo Dance Company performs a solo from White Noise. Choreographed by Noa Wertheim, the dance relates to the tension between the noise that surrrounds us inside and out – and our desire to be at peace.
White Night Tel Aviv saluted the World Cup – or Mondiale, as we call it here, with music. Stages with groups performing music from football playing countries were rocking Rothschild all through the night.
England may be out, but the Beatles will always be in!
Something a little different from Italy…and something you can move to from South Africa.
Some had things to sell…
and some were advertising something…
but most of all, it was about having a good time – like this wi party.
Can you imagine dancing to “My Way” in Spanish?
Why not? These people seemed to enjoy it!
Amid the music and the crowds, I saw something I never imagined to see on a Tel Aviv street: someone was trying to park his car in a very tight spot, and another man approached him. Usually, what happens next involves raised voices and some version of “I saw it first!” But the man walked up to the car, and called out, “Hey friend, there’s a better spot opening up over there!” I didn’t manage to get a picture of it – but I hope the image remains in my mind for a long time to come…at least until the next White Night comes around.
AYELET DEKEL
I love your story about the parking space. Hard to believe something like that could happen in Israel…only on the White Night I guess 🙂
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