By Dale Basham & Allen Wiseley—
MUNCIE, IN—Ya’akov Eden was born in Russia, but moved to Israel with his family when he was only 6 months old. Early on he showed a love and talent for dancing and was invited to dance with the Israeli National Troupe of the Kibutzim in 1957. He emigrated to the United States in 1966 to study physics at the University of Oregon. However, Ya’akov Eden was bored studying physics and was recruited by the dance department, due to his background as a professional dancer in Israel.
He spent a year dancing professionally in New York City with the Tel Aviv Review, graduated with a BA in Dance in 1970, and received two offers to teach at the collegiate level: Stanford University and Ball State University. He chose Ball State so he could work with the internationally known Banevolks Folk Dance Troupe. At the height of his popularity, Ya’akov taught as many as 16 sections of dance each semester.
From Russia, to Israel, to Oregon, New York, and then finally to Muncie – thank you Ya’akov Eden for bringing your talent and your passion for the arts to Indiana and for staying in Muncie, making it a better place to live, to laugh, and to dance.—Muncie City Council
I first got to know Ya’akov when I auditioned to be one of his bottle dancer for the Ball State production of “Fiddler On The Roof.” To my surprise, I was cast and rehearsed for weeks on that one iconic dance number with large bottles perched upon our flattop hats. One of my proudest achievements was dancing that incredible number for the entire run of the production without dropping my bottle. Eden was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Education at Ball State from 1971 through 2005 and continued to teach part time for several years after his retirement. In 2003, he was named Dance Educator of the Year by the Indiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.
Eden also owned and operated the Garden of Eden Dance Studio in Downtown Muncie for many years and served as an early advocate for the revitalization of DWNTWN. Eden taught me to ballroom dance on those hardwood floors in the old Arthur Murray dance studio upstairs in the Lapin-Doyle building many years ago. He also choreographed too-many-to-mention shows at Muncie Civic Theatre.
Eden has been a longtime member of Temple Beth El in Muncie, where he served for a time as the Sunday School Administrator. He and his wife Judy raised their three children here in Muncie—Aviva, Adam, and Erin.
Several of the members of Temple Beth El came to the Muncie city council meeting to help us honor him.
L’Chaim!
