Aaron Alpert

COOKING CHALLENGE
GAME SHOW

Aaron Alpert started dancing before he was born! His parents met at Israeli folk dancing in Los Angeles, and his childhood is filled with dance memories, from participating in his first dance camp at the age of two months, to acting as his father’s “remote control” when he taught, to performing in Saturday night talent shows at the Camp Alonim for Jewish youth that takes place every summer just north of Los Angeles, California.

In his first year at UC Berkeley, Aaron became one of the instructors and the curriculum developer for Jewish Studies 98: The Israeli Dance DeCal. In January 2009, Aaron joined the teaching/DJ rotation at Cafe Simcha, a weekly Israeli dance session held near Berkeley. He also sporadically substitutes for leaders of other South Bay Israeli dance groups.

In October 2012, Aaron started his own dance session, Nirkoda! (Let’s dance!) in the San Francisco Bay area. After the first 10 months in a small studio on the Stanford University campus, the evening dance party was popular enough to require moving to a larger venue, Temple Etz Chayim in Palo Alto, California, where it continues to attract dancers. Aaron has been a staff member at Camp Rikud, an annual dance camp for Israeli dance aficionados.

Aaron attended Stockton Folk Dance Camp as a participant in 2017 and was a member of the faculty in 2018. This is his second time on the teaching staff.