Re: pre 17th century Jewish dance

[Kristine Maitland <rosanera...>]

At 02:36 PM 2/14/99 -0500, Joel wrote:

>When you ask after Jewish dance, I take it you are interested in the
>mediterranean tradition? 

Actually, I'm interested in both the med. and the Western Asian traditions.
 Anything from the fertile crescent to the eastern Iranian border.

>You should get a copy of "Sephardic Dance in Minnesota? Some Anecdotes
>about Dance and Research", Judith Rosalie Brin Ingber, in Jewish Folklore
>and Ethnography Review, Vol. 15, No. 2, 1993. 

Will do!  Thanks

> The pendulum has swung firmly against
>the "the texts are old, so the music must be" theory that held sway until
>fairly recently, to the point where some argue against tracing any melodies
>back that far. 

My own experience with tracing folk music is that the "text are old" theory
is totally bunk.  Especially when it comes to discussing dance and its
music.  Indeed, after a while you're ear gets totally attuned to the
difference b/t "early period" as opposed to 19th revisionist.

You can see this best in Emsemble Sarband's "Sepharad".  They do four
versions of_Gerinaldo_:  version one is from Spain in 1552 and the other 3
are Moroccan and Algerian, and obviously from the folk tradition.  The
differences are HUGE.

Still, I figure that the information I need is out there.

Caramente
Kristine Maitland
www.bestiary.com/diaspora/kristine.html

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