16:00
april
24
1. Avi Biran, Chanukka-Lamp, Israel, 2008. 2. Rachel Kanter, “Between Me and God“, Tallit for Women, USA, Monclair, New Jersey, 2010
As part of the Yiddishland Pavilion, we will bring Yiddish circle dances to the squares of Venice. Internationally-acclaimed Yiddish dance leader Avia Moore will lead participants in circle and line dances, teaching the fundamentals of steps and gesture, and contextualizing the dance styles.
Yiddish Dance is a motley collection of styles and forms, rooted in the folk dance styles of Yiddish-speaking East European Jews. While many of the dances move in circles or winding lines, there are also solo forms, dances for two dancers, couples’ dances, and choreographed set dances. Yiddish dance includes dances that are uniquely Jewish in form, dances that were adapted to Jewish contexts from neighboring cultures (such as Bessarabia, Ukraine, and Poland), dances commonly considered to be national dances of other groups, and popular social dances of the day. Today, Yiddish dance is danced around the world, a vibrant participatory performance of cultural practice, and an embodied method of cultural transmission.
Avia starts her dance workshops with a quotation from Bronya Sakina, a treasure of Yiddish song and dance originally from Southeastern Ukraine: “Ikh halt dikh far dayn hant, nor ikh tants nokh mayn takt” (I take your hand but I dance to my own rhythm). Encapsulating the dual emphasis on community dancing and individual expression that defines Yiddish dance, this guides Avia's approach as a dancer, a leader, and a teacher. In Yiddish dance, the very act of dancing together holds the possibility of and, in fact, creates space for individual expression of rhythm, gesture, and story. Whether through footwork or gesture, there is room within the basic structure of Yiddish dance for variation. Ethnomusicologist Walter Zev Feldman highlights this rather remarkable way of coming together, noting that Yiddish dance “is the confluence of two radically different choreographic concepts: one mainly of Central European origin involving figures and fixed steps, and the other apparently created within the Jewish community itself, based largely on gesture and improvised steps.” Just as the Yiddish-speaking Jews of Eastern Europe spoke many other languages, including the languages of the non-Jewish communities around them, likewise their movement languages were not isolated, not singular. Likewise, Yiddish dance today includes space for stylistic variations that reflect the individuals dancing. The interplay between structure and improvisation that is central to Yiddish dance opens up the opportunity for us to honor different styles of Yiddish dance within one circle, or on a single dance floor.
In a time when it often feels as though we have forgotten how to hold hands, Yiddish dance can act as a participatory social action that pushes against national boundaries and isolated individualism.
Yiddish Dance is a motley collection of styles and forms, rooted in the folk dance styles of Yiddish-speaking East European Jews. While many of the dances move in circles or winding lines, there are also solo forms, dances for two dancers, couples’ dances, and choreographed set dances. Yiddish dance includes dances that are uniquely Jewish in form, dances that were adapted to Jewish contexts from neighboring cultures (such as Bessarabia, Ukraine, and Poland), dances commonly considered to be national dances of other groups, and popular social dances of the day. Today, Yiddish dance is danced around the world, a vibrant participatory performance of cultural practice, and an embodied method of cultural transmission.
Avia starts her dance workshops with a quotation from Bronya Sakina, a treasure of Yiddish song and dance originally from Southeastern Ukraine: “Ikh halt dikh far dayn hant, nor ikh tants nokh mayn takt” (I take your hand but I dance to my own rhythm). Encapsulating the dual emphasis on community dancing and individual expression that defines Yiddish dance, this guides Avia's approach as a dancer, a leader, and a teacher. In Yiddish dance, the very act of dancing together holds the possibility of and, in fact, creates space for individual expression of rhythm, gesture, and story. Whether through footwork or gesture, there is room within the basic structure of Yiddish dance for variation. Ethnomusicologist Walter Zev Feldman highlights this rather remarkable way of coming together, noting that Yiddish dance “is the confluence of two radically different choreographic concepts: one mainly of Central European origin involving figures and fixed steps, and the other apparently created within the Jewish community itself, based largely on gesture and improvised steps.” Just as the Yiddish-speaking Jews of Eastern Europe spoke many other languages, including the languages of the non-Jewish communities around them, likewise their movement languages were not isolated, not singular. Likewise, Yiddish dance today includes space for stylistic variations that reflect the individuals dancing. The interplay between structure and improvisation that is central to Yiddish dance opens up the opportunity for us to honor different styles of Yiddish dance within one circle, or on a single dance floor.
In a time when it often feels as though we have forgotten how to hold hands, Yiddish dance can act as a participatory social action that pushes against national boundaries and isolated individualism.
Participatory dance
GIARDINI
Take My Hand: Yiddish Circle Dances in Venice
