Wheelchair dancers go viral

TV audition showcases the liberation of dance

 Oren and Zahava dance on 'Israel's Got Talent.'  (photo credit: RESHET)
Oren and Zahava dance on 'Israel's Got Talent.'
(photo credit: RESHET)
Like its counterparts across the globe, the reality show Israel’s Got Talent showcases the weird, the wacky and the wonderful from around the country.
On a recent episode of the Reshet TV series, two dancers moved the judges – and much of the audience – to tears.
Zahava, 63, and Oren, 39, at first appear did not appear to be stereotypical dancers. Zahava, who was afflicted with polio as a toddler, and Oren, who is the physically able child of two disabled parents, rolled onto the stage in wheelchairs.
Zahava told the judges that she uses a wheelchair, but she is not bound by it. Oren said he does not use one, except as “an incredible accessory for dance.”
Zahava said she has accomplished many things in her life, but always dreamed of dancing.
“I always said, if I wasn’t disabled I would be a dancer,” she said. “I believed that a dancer needs to have a perfect body – and my body is far from that.”
But in their moving number, the pair moved between wheelchairs and on the floor with grace and Zahava proved that she is very much a dancer. The duo easily sailed through to the next round of the competition, and left several judges and hosts in tears.
The clip of their dance has been viewed more than 200,000 times on YouTube since the show aired last week. And many Israelis will be tuning in to see what Zahava and Oren do next.