© KlezCalifornia Inc, or used by permission. All rights reserved.
Presented by KlezCalifornia
Co-presented by Chochmat HaLev
The Dybbuk Dances, with Bruce Bierman
In 1937, contemporary Jewish choreographers Judith Berg and Felix Fibich choreographed the last Yiddish film made in Poland before the War. The classic Yiddish film was The Dybbuk, based on S. Ansky’s smash hit play about the possession and exorcism of a dybbuk –a spirit– who enters the body of his beloved true bride. In this musically playful movement and dance workshop, Bruce will share the couple’s movement ideas using the Jewish alphabet (the alef-beys) to choreograph the Beggar’s Dance. Along with the angular and oppositional inspiration of the alef-beys, participants will also learn a Yiddish dance (Patsh Tants) — the dance of the mothers weaving the bride into the community — and some Hasidic-inspired ecstatic gestures used throughout the ghoulish classic film. No dance experience necessary. All bodies and differences welcomed! We’ll also be using the Klezmatics’ fabulously spooky score to Tony Kushner’s theatrical adaptation of The Dybbuk!
To reserve a space, scroll down to BOOK EVENT, click on NEXT, and complete the registration form. Registration ends at 7am Pacific Time the day of the event. If you want to try to participate after that, write workshops@klezcalifornia.org. We cannot promise to notice your email if you register after the deadline.
Registering for this event includes giving KlezCalifornia permission to take still and video images and use them for educational or other organizational purposes. If you do not agree to such use, please turn off your video when you join the event. To keep you informed of future events, we are enrolling registrants in our free monthly newsletter which includes klezmer and Yiddish culture events in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. You may unsubscribe at any time. KlezCalifornia does not share its email lists with other organizations.
Register by Sunday 7am Pacific Time (10am Eastern Time. We have just been told that the United Kingdom has changed clocks and is now 7 hours ahead of Pacific Time. If you are outside North America, please register as quickly as possible). We will send out sign-in by 8:10am Pacific Time that day. If you have not heard by then, write a.s.a.p. to workshops@klezcalifornia.org. Please do not wait until just before the workshop begins to notice whether you have the sign-in info.
KlezCalifornia is presenting workshops this year free of charge as a community service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations of $25 (or whatever you can afford) are greatly appreciated to enable us to continue our mission to connect you with Yiddish culture and to assist artists who have lost performance income.
General information about KlezCalifornia workshops»
This workshop is made possible in part by a grant from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, in partnership with the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation. We rely on donations from participants to provide the rest of the needed funding.