Tap Dance Day - May 25

Tap dance is a dance style in which the feet are locked in special shoes for dancing on the floor, in different rhythms. The shoes hitting the floor make knocking noises that add to the rhythm of the music. Sometimes the dance is not accompanied by music and what is heard is just the tapping of the shoes.

Tap dance has two main styles: Rhythm and Broadway. The Broadway style is most often seen in musicals because it focuses on dance and physical aesthetics. The rhythm style focuses on musicality and rhythms and is considered part of the jazz world.

International Tap dance Day was proclaimed by US President George W. Bush in 1989. He chose May 25 because it was the birthday of tap-father Bill Bojangles Robinson, who united whites and blacks in tap dancing in America in the early 20th century.

You can see tap dancing in many movies, including: "Tap", "Singin' in the Rain", "White Nights", "Move Your Feet", "The Cotton Club", "American in Paris" "Bootmen".

Among the most successful tap dancers today: Brenda Bufalino,  Dianne "Lady Di" Walker, Savion Glover, Sam Weber, Jason Samuels Smith, Sarah Reich, Melinda Sullivan, Maurice Hines, Michelle Dorrance, Chloe Arnold, Jason Janas, Heather Cornell, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards.

The tap shoe consists of two metal parts located in the heel of the shoe and in the toe area that produce tapping sounds.

A bride and groom in a tap dance at their wedding ceremony (Source)

In the next video (speakers required) you will see an amazing tap dance performance by a 6 year old boy named Luke Spring, who is dancing alongside a famous and popular dancer named Justin M. Lewis. The two demonstrate rhythm, speed and energy and produce the dance sounds with their own feet. Both perform across the United States and are enthusiastically swept away by a large audience.

May 25 is also Towel Day

Museum Day- May 18

Museum Day is a day where you should soak up culture and art and visit any museum, no matter which one.

This day has been declared by the International Council of Museums as a day dedicated entirely to museums, on May 18 each year.

Each year, the council dedicates a particular theme to Museum Day, and many museums around the world hold special days on the subject. More than 30,000 museums around the world participate in Museum Day, a day founded in 1977.

May 18 is also Visit Your Relatives Day and No Dirty Dishes Day

Opera Day - February 8

The opera has attracted a large audience since the sixteenth century until today, with new fans being added to it every day.

The opera started in Italy and is a work of art that combines music with text, and is often a dramatic imitation of a story, a complete performance of a play with scenery and costumes.

The best day to celebrate your passion for opera is Opera Day which falls today. If you have not yet developed a passion for opera, Opera Day is the perfect day to start. The best way to celebrate Opera Day is to experience the opera for yourself.

On the Israeli Opera website you can find the opera performances that take place today or in the near future and order tickets to experience this special and powerful experience.

You can also watch operas on Youtube or listen to music channels that broadcast operas on the radio.

Classical operas that you can get excited about are for example Giocino Rossini's "The Book from Seville" (you must have heard the song "Figaro"), Bizet's "Carmen", Giacomo Puccini's "Madame Butterfly", "La Bohème" by Puccini, Vardi's "La Travita" and more.

If you have a good voice, you can try singing an opera yourself or sign up for opera singing classes.

Sydney Opera House at night, one of the most famous opera halls in the world

A picture from the modern opera musical "Phantom of the Opera" by Andrew Lloyd Weber, from 1986

February 8 is also a Laugh and Get Rich day and also Hollywood Walk of Fame Day 

Appreciate A Dragon Day- January 16

Appreciate A Dragon Day is a day in honor of the fire-spitting animals, the dragons.

Dragons are legendary creatures that appear in adventure stories, movies, plays and folk tales.

The image of dragons is similar to giant reptiles that can also fly. They are reminiscent of dinosaurs, snakes (especially spitting cobras), crocodiles, bats and giant lizards.

The creator of this special day is Donita K. Paul, a fantasy writer whose books star dragons. She created this day with the goal of encouraging people to learn about dragons.

There are peoples in whose tradition the dragons can be found. In China, for example, the dragon is a symbol of good news. It heralds the coming of the rain and symbolizes the yang.

In Jewish culture the dragon is associated with idols and therefore his mention in his stories or creation is considered foreign work.

In India the dragon is convoluted and has a cobra head, sometimes several heads.

In Wales in Great Britain there is a mythological story according to which in a long battle in which the Welsh king Vertigran was present, a red dragon defeated a white dragon. The red dragon symbolizes the Welsh (hence the national flag of Wales has a red dragon) and the white dragon the Anglo-Saxons. In this battle the victory of the Red Dragon foretold the defeat of the English in the battle against the Welsh.

Wales flag

How to celebrate Dragon Day?

Draw a dragon.

Color dragons coloring book.

Take a picture with a doll or a statue of a dragon.

See a movie starring dragons.

Watch a TV series with dragons (like Game of Thrones for example).

Make a dragon doll.

Make something in the shape of a dragon and take a picture with it.

January 16 is also Nothing day and Freedom of Religious Day

World Heritage Day- April 18

The world heritage is the wealth that humanity shares. It includes the monuments and sites that are accessible to the public and tell about the history and culture of the place. The protection and preservation of these valuable assets requires the collective efforts of the international community. World Heritage Day, also called Monuments and Sites Day, is designed to raise public awareness of the diversity of cultural heritage and the efforts required to protect and preserve it, as well as draw attention to its vulnerability and step up efforts to prevent their demolition and existing preservation.

World Heritage Day also encourages us to celebrate all the cultures of the world, and raise awareness for important monuments and cultural sites.

On April 18, 1982, on the occasion of a seminar organized by ICOMOS (International Committee of Monuments and Sites) in Tunisia, it was proposed to hold the "International Day of Monuments and Sites" which would be celebrated simultaneously around the world. This project was approved by the Executive Committee which submitted practical proposals to the National Committees on how to organize this day.

The idea was also approved by the UNESCO General Conference which passed a resolution at its 22nd session in November 1983 and recommended that member states examine the possibility of declaring April 18 each year as "Monuments and Sites Day". It is traditionally called World Heritage Day.

There are lots of amazing heritage sites and monuments around the world. Among the heritage sites that can be learned about ancient cultures around the world is Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas located in a lush and mountainous area above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. There are the amazing Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Temple of Abu Simbel on the Egyptian-Sudanese border from ancient Egypt, the Great Wall in China, the remains of the ancient city of Bagan in Myanmar, Angkor Wat, the main temple in the ancient temple city of Angkor in Cambodia and more. There are also lots of monuments around the world that are sculptures or buildings that aim to commemorate important people, historical events and so on.

ICOMOS, the International Council of Monuments and Sites, has offered to celebrate World Heritage Day by visiting monuments and sites and restoration work for free, publishing articles in newspapers and magazines, and TV and radio articles, hanging posters in city squares or major arteries paying attention to cultural heritage and preserving cultural heritage. Interviews, organizing discussions in cultural centers, town halls and other public spaces, exhibitions (pictures, paintings, etc.), publishing books, postcards, stamps, posters, awarding prizes to organizations or individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage or resulted in excellent publicity. , Inauguration of recently restored monuments, special awareness-raising activities among school children and youth, promoting "coordination" opportunities between organizations, defining areas for cooperation; Speaker exchanges; Arranging meetings and seminars, or conducting joint publications.

April 18 is also Columnists Day