Re: Freilekhs or Bulgar?

[Matt Jaffey <mjaffey2...>]

A follow-up on the Bulgar set dance taught by Erik Bendix - these words
came from the brochure that went with the workshop; I don't know if they
are his, or Michael Alpert's or whose. And don't tell me some of it is a
little weird:

"Remember that traditionally -- or at least the way most yidlekh dance --
the dance phrase doesn't have to follow the musical phrase; the important
thing is that you follow the steady 1-2 beat of the music. It's
quitessentially pre-industrial, yet deconstructivist... On the other hand,
taking a post-modern, yet cheerfully neo-conservative approach, it's always
nice when your figures and moves correspond at least occasionally to the
dimensions of the music, so that you're not just performing dance-like
exercises while music happens to be playing in the same room.  Thus, once
you know the dance, you don't have to pay slavish attention to the number
of steps indicated here, but can let the spirit move you and then catch up
or mark a little time to get back in step with the music.

"Music: Per the previous paragraph, you can use any moderate-tempo bulgar
or freylekhs in 2/4 time, but good ones to use are Kammen #2 or Naftule's
Freyelkh as played by Naftule Brandwine. Just ask your musicians to play
any 3-part tune in the sequence AABC if you want dance and music to match."

But as I said in my previous post, they don't really have to match for this
dance.

Matt Jaffey


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