From Deborah Strauss re. Duo Concert w/ Zev Feldman (Shers)

[DEBORAHJSTRAUSS <DEBORAHJSTRAUSS...>]

Deborah's quote via Ari:

"I have to say a couple of things. For one thing, we got our beat by 
watching Zev moved his hand in dance rhythm. This was a revelation to me 
because we so often play them too fast. Zev reminds us to play this to 
dance. And the second thing, which is related, is that we used to just play 
each section, then go on to the next. And as we rehearsed we have learned 
that these don't just go from one to the other - they must fit to the beat, 
and where the dance is."

Dear All,

Thanks for all of the positive comments about the Strauss/Warschauer Duo 
concert with Zev Feldman last Monday night at Columbia.  It was indeed an honor 
to 
be performing with Zev and to be playing for such a heymish and knowledgeable 
audience!  

Just a few clarifications about some of the things I "said" that night:

1.  Yes, we were setting the tempo via Zev's hand -- as he turned it palm up 
then palm down in a dance gesture.  Zev has very specific thoughts as to the 
range of tempos that work for shers (note here that I'm saying RANGE -- not 
just one right tempo but a range of tempos that work).   Perhaps as a result of 
today's fast-paced society, the "klezmer-revival" tendency has been to play 
certain kinds of tunes too fast, in my opinion.  But I really think that's 
changing.  --So many people are delving into traditional musical models and 
also 
connecting more with traditional dancing. 

2.  My comment about going from section to section in Morris Fried's 
Philadelphia Shers also needs clarification:  The Philadelphia Shers are 
amazing.  
Each section is a little gem -- and the ways the sections relate to one another 
is very interesting.  And they're VERY violinistic, to boot.  But my point in 
the concert was not to relate them to the sections of the dance but to speak 
about them as we were then playing them -- for listening.  Usually, I think 
about the forward motion of klezmer tunes.  In a freylekhs, for example, one 
generally wants to keep the rhythm and melodic phrasing "moving through" on 
repeats 
and at the ends of sections.  

But Zev talks about the PAUSES between sections (and also within sections) in 
certain tunes and in certain situations (for instance, when one plays a zhok 
for listening, not dancing)  I find this very illuminating as performance 
practice.  

On Monday, we didn't so much break the rhythm between sections as we let each 
section come to rest and resolution melodically.  So the shers as we 
performed them that night were still good for dancing.

3.  Finally, I'm so glad Steve W.  wrote about the sher we learned from Naomi 
Lasher at Circle Lodge this summer.  Just to clarify something about the 
music  -- Naomi did remember different melodies for different sections she and 
her 
other KinderRing counselors had danced to.  But perhaps the most significant 
point was that she remembers using the same melody each time the dancers would 
circle in the promenade.  I think she said that they even sang along.  It 
sounds like it was a lot of fun.  

As I said, she remembers other specific melodies for other sections, but 
these seem to have had more flexibility -- as long as they had the right number 
of 
measures.  And of course, this is only one particular time and situation, but 
a very illuminating and inspiring one nonetheless!

Hope my thoughts help --

All the best,
Deborah

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