Yerushalmi was born March 1, 1939, in
Afula, in northern Israel, and was raised in
Haifa. Her mother, Haya (Angilovich) Yerushalmi, and father, Saul Yerushalmi (originally Yerusalimski), immigrated to Israel from
Russia in 1920 and 1917, respectively. Her mother was a nurse, and her father was an engineer. Yerushalmi began studying dance at age six. Yerushalmi moved to the United States in the late 1960s to pursue her
MFA in theater directing at
Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Early career (1970-1988) Yerushalmi's final project at Carnegie Mellon, under the mentorship of Professor
Leon Katz, was an adaptation of
Buchner's
Woyzeck. In 1970, after finishing her MFA, Yerushalmi moved to New York City and began working with
Ellen Stewart's
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the
East Village of
Manhattan. She was a resident director at La MaMA from 1972 to 1978. Yerushalmi directed a number of productions at La MaMa throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including:
Toy Show (1970);
Ta, Ta, Tatata (1970);
Shekhina: The Bride (1971);
Some Such Things (1978);
Glasshouse (1980); and
Yossele Golem (1982). She also choreographed and performed in
An Ecumenical Theatrical Liturgy on the Rights of the Child (1979) and performed in
Shradanjali (1982) at La MaMa. During this time, she also founded a branch of La MaMa in
Tel Aviv, which was active from 1972 to 1974. The Bible Project consisted of
Va-Yomer, Va-Yelech (
And He Said, And He Walked) and
Va-Yishtahu, Va-Yera (
And They Bowed, And He Saw). Yerushalmi currently teaches acting and directing at
Tel Aviv University. == Selected works ==