BeSof Ma'agal
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Hebrew: בסוף מעגל, "At the End of the Circle". Partner dance by Itzik Sa'ada, 1983. The dance is often played last in the evening because its Hebrew title can also mean "At the End of the Dance".
The music and original English lyrics were written by Kenny Young, whose name is sometimes mistransliterated from Hebrew as "Keni Yang". The Hebrew lyrics (sung by Arik Sinai) are a translation by Yehonatan Geffen. The original lyrics, which undoubtedly inspired the artistic puzzles and contradictions in the Hebrew[1], have been lost. Kenny Young believed they were located somewhere in his catalogues but never found them despite numerous attempts[2]. He passed away in April 2020[3]. (It is possible that Yehonatan Geffen has retained a copy, but he has not responded to several requests for assistance.)
One must be careful about the composer's identity: there are at least three songwriters named Kenny Young! The composer of BeSof Ma'agal, whose name at birth was Shalom Giskan, had been active since the 1960s and founded the environmentalist group Artists Project Earth; he is well known for his Grammy Hall of Fame song "Under the Boardwalk". Other Kennys Young include the leader of Kenny Young and the Eggplants, plus the leader of the southern countrified rock group Kenny Young Band.
Choreographic note: The man is always on his left foot with the exception of four measures: At the end of the second repetition of part I, the man must hold or fudge in order to start part II by crossing his partner twice on the right foot. He slides twice to the right, again on the right foot, but then switches back to the left to approach his partner. The woman is on her right foot throughout.
Footnote and references
- ↑ Some examples from the lyrics: the shade of the burning sun, we warmed ourselves on ice, the spring of autumn, etc.
- ↑ Email from Kenny Young, 3 September 2019
- ↑ Kenny Young obituary, The Guardian.