Re: Fw: Dancing

[Lori Cahan-Simon <l_cahan...>]

Steve, perhaps you'd like to tell us how far you are willing to travel to teach
so that those who are interested can hire you.  I've started Yiddish dance
workshops here in Cleveland, Ohio and would love to do a once a month, or every
other month, event, and have some gaps to fill.

Lorele


Steve Weintraub wrote:

> I'd like to introduce myself to the list- I just recently subscribed and
> have been following the dance thread with special interest.
> I'm Steve Weintraub, and I live in Atlanta, GA. I lead dance at weddings and
> bnei mitzvahs here and elsewhere, have choreographed and performed
> theatrical dance based on Jewish themes and music, and for the past 5 years
> have had the good fortune and privelage to teach Yiddish dance at Klezkamp.
> I think its great that so many people are now interested in the question of
> how to dance to klezmer music, and are taking leadership in their
> communities -its obvious that otherwise people are clueless as how to
> respond in a sustained way to this great music.
> I'd like to put in a few general observations (my 2 cents, plain):
>
> First- it seems to me that Yiddish dance has always meant itself to be
> distinct from the mainstream or goyish dance- like the Yiddish language.
> Borrowings notwithstanding.  The music and dance combine to make an
> identifiably Jewish experience.  More on this in a bit..
>
> Yiddish dance is more concerned with spatial figures (circles, snakes,
> pinwheels, etc) and details like who's dancing and with what (mitzvah tanz,
> bottle dance, koilich tanz) than with elaborate step patterns.  In a
> freylachs especially, adjacent people may be moving with differnt
> steps(prancing, walking, 2-step)  Body language is extremely important, tho-
> and communicates the "Jewishness" of the dancers.
>
> Yiddish dance was a live, continuously evolving entity until this century,
> when the Shoah and the consequent eclipsing of Yiddish culture by Israeli
> culture left only isolated pockets of continuity- some American communities,
> the Orthodox and Chassidic especially, and dwindling memories of older Jews.
> There's value in being historically accurate with reconstrucions of music or
> dance, and when I'm teaching a workshop I try to be very clear about where
> this or that movement or figure comes from.  However, when leading dance at
> a simcha, I'll rob from most any Jewish source to create an experience that
> is varied enough for modern Americans- Chassidic men's and women's steps and
> figures, the mayim step, the bulgar/hora, rondo figures like spirals and
> tunnels, even bits of or entire easy Isreali dances, like Mayim or Hora
> Hadera.  Again, it seems the key thing in this instance is to create for the
> participants an identifiably Jewish experience (as opposed to, say, the
> electric slide).
>
> Boy, this was a pretty long post, especially for a first timer. It's all
> Helen Winkler's fault - she encouraged me to post.  I'm really interested in
> discussing dance with anyone out there- both from a historical perspective
> (I'm still learning and piecing things together) and from a practical,
> modern perspective.
>
> -Steve
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Lori Cahan-Simon" <l_cahan (at) staff(dot)chuh(dot)org>
> To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 10:25 AM
> Subject: Re: Fw: Dancing
>
> > There don't seem to be a whole lot.  Ari, how about making a dance teacher
> > listing page on KlezShack?
> >
> > Dance teachers, send your names and locations, and the names and locations
> of
> > others you know who are not on our list, and at least we'll have the list
> in the
> > archives that someone could search.
> >
> > Ari, since I know people search for musicians on your listings (I know
> because I
> > have gotten a number of calls from my listings), perhaps we can encourage
> people
> > hiring "Yiddish" dance teachers by providing a place to find them
> geographically
> > and otherwise.
> >
> > You provide such wonderful services for so many.  Keep up the good work!
> >
> > Altz gut,
> > Lorele
> >
> >
> > allen watsky wrote:
> >
> > > Any Yiddish Dance Teachers ? Would love to hear from you.............AW
> > >
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "allen watsky" <awatsky (at) nj(dot)rr(dot)com>
> > > > To: <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> > > > Sent: Monday, December 31, 2001 3:18 PM
> > > > Subject: Re: Dancing
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Hello, Wondering if anyone knows of a person in the NYC metro ,North
> > > > Jersey
> > > > > area qualified and interested in teaching Eastern European
> Dance/Klezmer
> > > > > Dance/ Jewish Dance(insert your favorite term here)? Please reply on
> or
> > > > off
> > > > > list as you prefer. ThanksMuch,Al Watsky
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> >
>

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