Re: Yiddish folk dancing on campus

[Helen Winkler <winklerh...>]

"Many of the advanced
folkdancers I know have told me that the non-choreographed line dances are
too boring for them - Balkan or Yiddish - even if its dancing to great live
music. "

I think with Yiddish dancing, the style is the most interesting thing.  From 
the brief time I got to spend dancing with Zev Feldman, I realize that I 
have only scratched the surface of the style and I don't think one can 
really get deeply into it just from a workshop or two.  Without the style, 
the dances wouldn't be that interesting. Lots of the movements that Zev 
showed us were challenging-- for example, he emphasized asymmetric 
improvisations that aren't always right on the musical phrase, certain 
shoulder movements in the honga which take practise to develop, and many 
other very subtle things that are  hard to put into words.  Personally, I 
don't think Yiddish dancing is boring at all, but it is very different from 
the kinds of dances that people are used to doing in recreational folk dance 
groups.
Helen

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