Re: Mitzvah music and dance

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

Peggy, if I recall, there was an extensive and fascinating section on 
weddings in this marvelous and ultimately sad book.
Lorele

Joe Kurland & Peggy Davis wrote:

> I was part of an international dance performing troupe in Minneapolis 
> and found it interesting how many of the people were not part of 
> ethnic groups with active folk traditions. There were some who were 
> Polish, Croatian, Serbian and came to the group because of their 
> connection with these traditions. I think the others may have come to 
> it because of the lack of tradition in their own communities. Jews did 
> not make up a large proportion of the dancers and musicians, but I 
> know in other large cities they do. During the time I was there, 
> klezmer music was added to the musicians' repertoire.
>
> Regarding Greeks--I heard Sophia Bilides perform at the Iron Horse a 
> few years ago, and most of those present got up to dance. I noted a 
> group of people about age 60-70 who dance in a traditional style. I 
> think some of them were from Greece. I had this sharp pang of 
> realization of the discontinuity in our tradition. We don't have 
> people going back and forth to the "old country" and connecting to 
> village life there. We don't have people of those ages in great 
> numbers who grew up in Europe and can transmit those traditions. I 
> don't think we musicians and dancers are creating a revised folk 
> culture out of wholly new cloth, but we are recreating it from shreds 
> and pieces.
>
> I highly recommend a book I've been reading, "There Once was  a World: 
> A 900-Year Chornicle of the Shtetl of Eishyshok" by Yaffa Eliach. It 
> is a very thorough description of life in this shtetl, covering many 
> aspects of life and how it had changed throughout the centuries.
>
>
>
>
> Peggy Davis
>
> Peggy H. Davis Calligraphy & Wholesale Klezmer Band
> Colrain, MA 01340
> 624-3204
> www.HebrewLettering.com
> www.WholesaleKlezmer.com
>
>
>

-- 
You can now hear Lori's new CD, Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me; Vol.1: 
Passover, at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lcahan Only $15 & postage. Email me for 
more info.
 




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