Re: Ashkenazi dance?

[Alex J Lubet <lubet001...>]

I'm not sure how to deal with this, but I'd recommend you take a few slow,
deep breaths.  First, my comments were not even in response to yours.  I
didn't even read your post.  Someone, I don't recall who, was looking for
assessments of Judith Brin Ingber as scholar and I related what I knew,
noting that she is a close friend and colleague.  Far be it from me to
attempt to weigh in as an authority on either Sephardic culture or dance in
general, but I'm guessing that various folks might have different takes on
whether Sephardic dance exists and what it might be and that some of them
might have enough expertise to be given a little attention.

I know this is an immense stretch and that others will surely disagree, but
maybe, just maybe, years spent in Israel and fluent Hebrew just might be
useful in this day and age for a non-Sephardic (or Sephardic) person who
studies Sephardic culture, including dance.  I know I'm way out of my
league here, but, IMHO, Hebrew and field work in Israel are valuable
elements of Jewish scholarship.  If I'm mistaken, consider me chastened.



On 6 Dec 2002, Judith R Cohen wrote:
> hi, your point, Alex? My post said, sincerely, that she is a fine dancer
> and person, and is very knowledgeable; certainly I admire and appreciate
> her combination of research and performance accomplishments.
> 
>  But that does not mean she "does Sephardic dance" for the simple reason
> that there IS no such thing as "Sephardic dance". And what on earth does
> spekaing fluent Hebrew have to do with how women who don't even SPEAK
> Hebrew dance/d in Turkey, Greece, Morocco or Bosnia? Her group has a
> large and deserved following: it does not follow from that that
> "Sephardic dance" exists as a phenomenon. 
> 
> She does have a solid grounding in Yemenite dance and many other
> traditions, and continues to do very good research; and she uses
> elements from various aspects of Jewish dance traditions to good purpose
> in her creations.
> 
> But that doesn't mean they aren't creations! 
> 
> Nor is this an insult, as should be apparent.As I've said many times,
> the only issue I have is what people CALL what they're doing. Why is
> this such a difficult thing to communicate where Spehardic, especially
> JUdeo-Spanish culture is concerned? 
> 
> The heavily flamenco-influenced guitar playing in the group is very
> good, and also based on years of working in Spain, often with Gypsies -
> that doesn't make it "Sephardic": there is nothing like that in
> Sephardic music and flamenco is as old a genre as its mythology
> suggests. Nor is the very skilled and imaginative percussion playing
> typical of Judeo-Spanish musical styles. That doesn't mean it isn't good
> or shouldn't be done - it just means it isn't very Sephardic. That's
> fine: the group has evolved a high quality performance style, and their
> own approach to the music, enhanced by Judith's dance - great! Just CALL
> IT what it is, not what it isn't.
> 
> "Sephardic" is a very general term, encompassing many cultures. Let's
> look at the term "Ashkenazi". Let's say a talented dancer and trained
> researcher researched and learned the bulgar, the sher, Ukrainian dance,
> Polish dance, Lithuanian dance, and also some modern dance, did it all
> beautifully, and incorporated it into performances by a good music group
> whose musical but idiosyncratic interpretations of Yiddish song and of
> klezmer had gained them a large following and it turned out to be a
> lovely performance - would that somehow MAKE it "Ashkenazi dance"????
> 
> Judith
> 
> Alex wrote:
> > As her long-time friend and artistic collaborator (not on Sephardic
> projects) I'm
> > quite prejudiced towards Judith.  I'm not a dance scholar either, but
what
> I know
> > of her work strikes me as meticulous and methodologically solid.  She
> lived/danced
> > in Israel for many years and her Hebrew is fluent.  Her group Voices of
> Sepharad
> > has toured the world and is deeply loved by audiences here.
> >
> 
> 
> 


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