Re: sher questions

[Steve Weintraub <dancinsteve...>]

Helen:

Always good to have a word from you!

The sher doesn't really last 30 minutes- maybe 15 or 20 at the most. The best 
opportunities to do it are when there are live musicians playing. That includes 
festivals, concerts, synagogue or community celebrations, or idealy weddings. 
In these settings the length of the dance actually works to its advantage, 
allowing enough time for people to get into the groove of the dance, and 
allowing the participants the time to have fun with each other.

What is tedious in a recreational folk dance setting is actually very 
satisfying in a live party setting.

I'll be at KlezCalifornia, dealing with shers and other Yiddish dance stuff, if 
anyone wants to hash thru this face to face. I'll also be teaching a course on 
the history of Jewish dance (which might help put a lot of things in 
perspective), and doing a special session on how to lead dances succesfully.

BTW- some fun pics of Germans channeling a simcha to be had at the 
Klezmerwelten site: 
http://www.klezmerwelten.de/spiegel-weintraub.htm

-Steve
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Helen Winkler 
  To: World music from a Jewish slant 
  Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2004 7:52 AM
  Subject: RE: sher questions


    The problem that I see emerging with trying to revive the sher and bring it 
back into the community, is that there aren't that many opportunities for the 
average person to dance a sher. The only place that I've been able to bring the 
dance to on a regular basis (i.e., weekly for a season of dancing), has been at 
my recreational folk dance group in Calgary (I haven't taught it in Toronto 
yet).  In the setting of a recreational dance evening, people really don't want 
to do a dance that last 30 minutes, every week.  They're just not in the mood 
for that and are accustomed to doing dozens of 3 minute dances in a typical 
evening,(usual a lot of Balkan stuff).  So, in that setting, I've stuck with 
the abbreviated sher that a friend of mine (Teme Kernerman) arranged, and then 
have embellished it with the shine.  It goes for about 7 minutes

     

    I'm not exactly sure, outside of the setting of recreational folk dance 
groups, how to kick start the Yiddish dances and bring them back out to the 
general community, on a regular basis, rather than just to dance enthusiasts, 
or at occasional music/dance festivals.  Any ideas?

     

    Helen