The audience filled the Columbia Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 16 left describing something unique and enjoyable.  The Koresh Dance Company took the stage, receiving a standing ovation after performing a signature style of dance that can only be described as Koresh Style. Ronen Koresh describes how their style derives from multiple styles of dance.
“I take from everything.  There’s not only folk dance, there’s hip-hop, ballet, jazz, modern.  I use everything,” said Koresh, the artistic director, founder, choreographer and costume designer.  “To me dance is not one thing.  If you call it ballet then it’s just ballet.  I call my dance, dance.  It’s everything, it’s life.  I will use anything and everything.  Whatever is necessary to be expressed that is communicative to you, that to me is dance.  That’s what I do.”
Audience members described the performance as containing a flow of dance from one movement to another.
“It had a good flow all the way through,” said Pastor D. L. George of Hammond.  “I think it was very cool, very organized.  I think the selection of music was very nice. They did an excellent job with the music and choreography.”
Koresh mentioned the influence his dance has from his cultural background.  Born and raised in Israel, Koresh learned folk dance with the help of his mother who was in a folk dance group.
As a child, Koresh absorbed many different types of cultural dances as Jews from all around the world traveled to Israel.  Koresh continued to study dance throughout the years, breaking only during his three-year enlistment in the army.
After moving to the United States in 1983, Koresh developed new styles in dance as he studied jazz and performed with Waves Jazz Dance Company in Philadelphia.  It was not long before Koresh formed the Koresh Dance Company, and combined everything he had learned since his youth.
“I was always good with movement.  Dance is a medium of communication for me,” said Koresh.  “I was never good at words. I was never very good at painting-I couldn’t play an instrument to save my life.  But I could move my body in a way that is quite emotional and very expressive.  So being a dancer was quite the obvious thing for me.”
Despite the wide variety of dance styles the company performs, there are only 10 dancers who travel and perform.
Koresh described what he looks for in his dancers: technical aspects, the ability to express emotion, professionalism, communication and the ability to relate well to others.  Some of the dancers started with the company dancing for free.
“Dancing really is not just about money or any of those things, dancing is about something you need,” said Koresh.  “You have to fulfill something that’s inside you.  To be on the stage, that’s a job.  To be a dancer, that’s something else, it’s in your heart.”
Despite the many dances and diverse choreography, Koresh attributed the ability to remember every move to the idea that dancing is a language.  Just as one doesn’t think when they speak, the dancers don’t need to think when they dance.
Perfecting the dance does not come so quickly, though.  Practice last for the most of the day, five days a week under Koresh’s direction.
“They have to be invested in the work as much as I am.  If they’re not interested in the work, we’re never going to get results.  Together, we find our way through the maze of possibilities.  I direct it and we do it together,” said Koresh.
As a choreographer, Koresh must think of not only moves, but also the music that goes along with them.  
Music from Sunday’s performance included the different styles and songs by artist such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Hugues Le Bars, Two Fingers, Jonathan Bowles and others.
Koresh described the music as something, which creates the atmosphere for a dance.
“The music is the place, the music is where it all happens.  I’m a choreographer so my primary objective is the movement, the design of the movement, how to express certain things.  The music itself creates an atmosphere,” said Koresh.  “I’m trying to find music that is unique so when you hear it for it for the first time it’s not quit clear where this place is, but with the movement on stage it starts making sense.  But sometimes I pick music that is very, very known and it’s really clear what I want.  Really it’s so you can enjoy yourself at the same time.”
Performing is not the only goal of the Koresh Dance Company.  The company is known for their integration and open hearts that extend beyond the stage.  While on tour, Koresh and his dancers make sure to connect with the community by offering post-performance discussions with the audience after each show, lecture and demonstrations to locals, master classes and more.  
With their home base in Philadelphia, the company also has a Koresh School of Dance located there.  Teenage dancers can grow in skill as part of the Koresh Youth Ensemble and elementary school children can take free weekly dance classes through the Koresh Kids Dance.
“We work with kids and show them what dance is about,” said Koresh about freely teaching the young children.  “That’s what we do on the road.  We go to schools who have never seen dance.  I don’t know any other way.  All we can do is educate at a younger age.”
The Koresh Dance Company has traveled, already touching 38 states and seven countries.  The dancers themselves are all from different places, expanding the culture of the company.  
As Koresh states it, “We’re citizens of the world.”