The Schmooze

WATCH: Japanese Gymnast Performs Rio Routine — to Klezmer Music

Japanese Olympic gymnast Sae Miyakawa at the Rio Olympic Arena on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Image by Getty Images

By Josefin Dolsten August 11, 2016

American Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas aren’t the only ones in Rio with a Jewish connection.

On Tuesday, 16-year-old Sae Miyakawa of Japan performed her floor routine to a klezmer arrangement of the song “Kol HaOlam Kulo,” which was written by founder of the Hasidic Breslov movement Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.

Though the song’s Hebrew text has an upbeat message (“The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the main thing is to not be afraid.”) it wasn’t enough to earn Japan a medal. The Japanese team finished fourth, after the United States, Russia and China.

Watch the video here:

Contact Josefin Dolsten at dolsten@forward.com or on Twitter, @JosefinDolsten

Josefin Dolsten is a New York-based writer who has reported for the Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Times of Israel and other Jewish publications. She currently works as an account director at Fenton Communications, supporting organizations that work to advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Dolsten earned her B.A. in government from Cornell University and her M.A. in comparative religion and Jewish studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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