Yossi Chaikin, born in Kiryat Yam will celebrate the 31st of Spring next month, is the dance captain for the fourth year in the musical "Hamilton" - one of the leading in the United States today. Chaikin's mother - Ira, the legendary dance teacher and owner of the "Half Step" studio in Kiryat Yam, says that from a young age her son would tell her: "If I don't dance, I don't breathe."
The road to fame, position and status was not easy. Yossi Haikin was born and raised in Kiryat Yam and worked hard to reach the top. His mother Ira is a veteran dance teacher and the owner of the studio "Half a Step" in Kiryat Yam who trained generations of dancers in her studio. In an interview with Lahi Fe, Ira tells about her son who brings her a lot of pride and pleasure.
A family of dancers
"Yossi grew up and studied in my studio together with his two brothers, a family of dancers. He successfully completed his high school studies at the Thelma Yelin School of Nationalism, and won an award and a scholarship. He was then accepted to study the arts at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York, where the students are selected In Pinzata, there are thousands of talented and good people trying to get accepted to study there, in the end they choose the best of them all."
Ira says that from a young age it was possible to see Yossi's talent. When he was 12 years old, he even participated in the "Bravo" program "Young Talent Show" broadcast on Channel 2. "He really liked to dance and invested, trained and worked very, very hard," she says. Another special thing is that his name is Yosef 'Yossi' and the first musical he saw for the first time in his life was "Yosef in the Striped Cotton", he was 11 years old and we were in London. After all, the first musical he was accepted to perform in the USA and opened the doors to this world for him even before he was accepted to Hamilton, was also "Joseph and the Striped Cotton"! We said it was really cream!", laughs Ira.
"In his last year at Juilliard, a choreographer from Broadway saw him and asked if he knew how to sing. The truth is that he completed classical and modern dance at a very high level, but not music. Yossi told him that he liked to sing when he was little, but not beyond that. Following the offer, Yossi decided To take singing lessons with a private teacher and as soon as he finished his studies at Juilliard, he was accepted into the musical Joseph and the Cotton of the Stripes."
The Israeli dance captain
From there he continued to the musical Hamilton and was chosen for the most difficult role - dance captain. He has been performing for four years, but due to the corona virus, the musical was stopped and recently, after a long break, they came back and made a big article about him with the title "Hamilton returns with an Israeli dance captain".
A lot of "no" until you get a "yes"
About the status and position Yossi has reached, Ira says with excitement and pride: "I am so proud of him because I know, as someone who came from the world of dance and a teacher, how difficult it is. How many "no's" you have to accept in order to get one "yes".
"The world of show business is a very difficult world, it belongs to nationalism and it is always difficult to be accepted, because there are many talented and very good people, and you have to stand out among all the professionals and talented people who come to the audition," says Ira.
"I know how hard he worked"
"Yossi stood out in what he did, and that's why they chose him. As his mother, I know how hard he worked to achieve this. From a very young age, he wanted it, and from a young age he would say: "If I don't dance, I don't breathe." This is his motto for all Life. There are those who come with a plasticine body and innate data, which his was not, but he worked hard to achieve all this. Last year in May he arrived in Israel and married the love of his life and his first love - the girl he danced with since the age of 13. And that is a story in itself special love
Know all the roles
"In an article published in the US, they say that they had to work hard for the return after a long break due to the Corona virus, when the difficult and complex role of the dance captain "falls" on the Israeli Yossi Chaikin, who needs to know all the roles of the actors participating in the musical," concludes Ira proudly.
Proud of us all. When will he come to Israel with the most talked about play in America, Hamilton?
Well done Yossi. Shabbat Shalom.