Professional dancer and TikTok superstar Montana Tucker has been one of the leading voices speaking up for the victims of the October 7 attacks on Gaza border communities in Israel.
The Florida-born Jewish dancer, who boasts over 12 million followers across her social-media platforms, recently came to Israel with a special mission.
The 31-year-old entertainer led an emotional dance tribute at the site of the Supernova festival massacre, which left 364 partygoers dead and many wounded. At least 40 people were kidnapped to Gaza.
NOVA
“Montana Tucker really connects with what happened; she’s emotionally involved, it’s not just work for her,” said Natalie Sanandaji, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) public affairs officer.
CAM produced and initiated the project, part of the broader “We Will Dance Again!” campaign, which saw Tucker dance with Lilach Friedman’s Dance Ensemble that tragically lost four members at the Supernova festival.
“When we were planning Montana’s trip to Israel, I saw videos of the ensemble on TikTok. I immediately sent them to my colleagues and told them that we have to do something with this dance troupe,” says Sanandaji.
The ensemble is fresh off a first-prize win at the contemporary dance competition in Barcelona for their dance project, NOVA, which recreated through dance some of the horrific scenes from the massacre.
The Long Island-native and former real estate agent was visiting family in Israel when she and three of her friends arrived at the festival around 1am on October 7.
“We were actually sleeping at the campsite when the first rockets were sent our way,” she recalls.
Shortly after, the festival’s security told the crowd to start evacuating.
“From that moment, we ran and walked on and off for about four hours, while being chased after and shot at; somehow I only saw the terrorists from afar and I didn’t see dead bodies like many others.”
Sanandaji says the whole time she was running to safety she didn’t know if she was heading the right way, calling her direction “a choiceless choice,” a phrase coined by Holocaust survivors.
Keeping the memory alive
Sanandaji says the project with Tucker will help survivors to keep the memory of what happened at the festival alive.
“Also, we want to spread as much truth as possible because there are so many people spreading lies about what happened,” she adds.
Sanandaji then recalls an incident that occurred after a speaking engagement she did in the United States.
“I told this woman that I was a survivor, and she started saying a lot of things back to me, referencing Al Jazeera. I told her to do research from multiple resources,” Sanandaji recalls.
“The woman became very aggressive and told me that I was being manipulative for mentioning the fact that I was there, for almost getting killed.
“Sometimes people just don’t want to hear what we’re saying.”
Produced in association with ISRAEL21c
