The hora is the Israeli folk dance commonly performed at Jewish bar and bat mitzvah celebrations.
The dance is usually performed in a circle, with participants holding hands or linking arms and moving in a repeated step pattern. At many celebrations, guests also lift the honoree into the air while the person sits on a chair, often during the dancing.
The modern Israeli hora developed from Eastern European Jewish and broader Balkan circle-dance traditions. It became strongly associated with Jewish communal celebrations in pre-state Palestine and Israel, then spread internationally through Jewish schools, camps, weddings, and lifecycle events.
A common mix-up is treating “Hava Nagila” as the name of the dance. Hava Nagila is a song frequently played during the hora, not the dance’s name. The exact steps and music can vary by community.