Re: klezmer dancing

[Helen Winkler <winklerh...>]

I have decided that when school starts in September, I will offer to teach 
the frelach to all the classes hoping to have done them all by Purim, (at 
the Jewish school my kids go to).  This way we can all dance together.
I had a great experience bringing a few Russian senior citizens to my 
Israeli dance class.  Since they were elderly, I thought they wouldn't keep 
up. But I was wrong. Despite the fact that these ladies hardly spoke English 
and didn't know much about Israeli dancing, they kept going for 2 hours.  
They knew how to keep moving and enjoy the music.  They must have been 
dancing all their lives.  It is a very  uplifting experience for a community 
to dance together and I think it is essential to start young and keep going.
Helen


>From: Joe Kurland & Peggy Davis <ganeydn (at) crocker(dot)com>
>Reply-To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
>To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>Subject: Re: klezmer dancing
>Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 23:08:01 -0400
>
>Regarding traditional styles of dancing:
>
>I just spent a couple of weeks in Minneapolis and went with my father to my
>cousin's for a gathering of friends. It consisted mainly of watching soccer
>on tv and talking. A delightful 3-year-old girl, whose parents are from
>Russia, showed interest in some musical instruments, and we started singing
>Tumbalalaika. Seeing her response, we urged my father to go to the piano
>and play some Yiddish and Russian songs. One thing led to another, and we
>started dancing in a circle and soon everyone was drawn in. That little
>girl went right into the middle of the circle to "shine" and used such a
>traditional vocabulary of Yiddish dance gestures! I was awed.
>
>Everyone there couldn't stop talking about how wonderful this experience
>was. It was such a reminder that this was, could and should be a regular
>part of life, not just at simkhes. Before TV and other media, this was how
>communities were entertained. It gives people such a sense of joy and
>connection. I think one way to influence what happens at simkhes is to find
>ways to familiarize people with this music and dancing long before they
>have to make a choice about music at their particular simkhe, so that it
>becomes a natural choice. This is one reason why our band (The Wholesale
>Klezmer Band) makes a point of performing at schools and synagogues to
>teach people about the music and dance.
>
>We performed recently at an event for a new congregation.After a workshop
>on traditional dancing, there were many adults 35-75 dancing away that
>evening, and I was aware of how wonderful it was for the kids to have those
>role models. I certainly didn't have that as a child. The combination of
>loss of people and culture due to the holocaust and assimilation has left
>quite a gap in our cultural transmission. So we all do what we can to fill
>that gap.
>
>Peggy Davis
>
>
>


______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+