

From 1926 to 1934, Vera Shabshai (1905 – 1988) created about a hundred miniatures ballets, mainly on Jewish themes, to the music of composers from the Society of Jewish Music. These choreographic numbers, combined into suites on a specific theme, made up the extensive repertoire of โEvenings of Jewish Danceโ and โEvenings of Jewish Ballet and Pantomimeโ organized by Shabshai in the seasons of 1929-1930 and 1930-1931.
The most popular piece of these ballets was the Jewish pantomime-ballet โAlephโ, in which she said she wanted to express through plastic means various moments of Jewish history from antiquity to the present day. It consisted of six pats or cycles: โJewish Bas-reliefsโ, โMourning dancesโ, โJews in Spainโ, โShtetl dancesโ and the pantomime โ Smena / Changeโ.






