Rina Sharett

Rina Sharett (1927-2025)

Born in Jerusalem. She graduated from the Kibbutzim College of Education’s physical culture program. In 1953-56 she studied African dance in New York with pioneer researcher, choreographer and dancer Pearl Primus in her so-called Primitive Dance Studio.  In 1961, she toured in Africa. After returning to Israel, she began working as a choreographer in Kibbutz Givat Brenner in 1965. In 1968-88 she taught dance at Wingate Institute. In 1971, she was invited by the government of Iran to teach dance in the Tehran National Folklore School. In celebration of Iran’s bi-millennial anniversary, she staged a string of dances from Gilan Province in northwestern Iran in the Tehran Opera.

Sharett worked with Batsheva 2 and wrote the text for Dance Chest (1982), where she also presented the various pieces. In 1983, she choreographed Pictures from Dance, where she also presented the various pieces.
In 1988-91, Sharett managed the Ethnic Dances Department of the Culture and Education Center of the Histadrut (labor union federation). In 1991-93, she was artistic director of Inbal Dance Theater. Her choreographies for Inbal include Nimrod and the Coat (1972) and Legend in the Sand (1979). She also created, produced and presented a series of dance performances for schoolchildren, first as part of the Children and Youth Theater and later independently, in a program called Window unto the Dance World.
As a researcher, Sharett wrote and published the following books: Rise Up: Rivka Sturman’s Dance Path (1988); Our Dance to Me and You – Ze’ev Havatzelet: Reflections on Dance (2003); Queen without a Palace: Mia Arbatova, Pioneer of Classical Ballet in Israel (2005). Most recently, she published What Befalls Me is My Destiny: My Way in the Dance World (2014).
Sharett, one of the founders of the Israel Choreographers Association (1983), has retired from the dance world and dedicated her time to the Moshe Sharett Heritage Society. Moshe Sharett, Israel’s first foreign minister and second prime minister, was the father of her husband Jacob.