Re: origin of the sher

[Itzik Gottesman <itzik...>]

        A gut yor -I would be wary of any "origin" of the sher. What have
been mentioned are certainly interpretations or explanations after the sher
had been danced for years or generations. It is a scissor form so the name
"sher" makes sense.  I also doubt, at weddings, whether men and women
danced together in the sher even if they did not touch hands. Not that it
didn't happen, but generally speaking, as we know, men and women danced
seperately, in different parts of the room or in different rooms. Of course
I am talking about traditional circles, and not about more liberal people
in the last hundred years.
        Another source of Jewish dancing in Eastern Europe, other than
weddings, were children and young adults.  And there, away from adult
supervision, the genders mixed much more freely on Sabbath afternoons or
Saturday evenings. There were no musicians, but the children sang a tune,
or someone led them in the movements as they sang and clapped. A number of
Yiddish songs are from these "sessions". See I.L.Cahan's "Shtudyes in
yidisher folkshafung" published by YIVO, and his article on Jewish dances
and songs. (I don't have it in front of me) -
 - Itzik Gottesman

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