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The Joy of Jewish Music and Dance
NEW LOCATION: Congregation Netivot Shalom, 1316 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA
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Join the October-May monthly series celebrating The Joy of Jewish Music and Dance! Great for musicians, dancers, and enthusiasts to meet, learn, play, shmooze, or simply to take in the beauty of these rich traditions. Bring your instruments and dancing shoes.
ONLINE REGISTRATION ENDED FRIDAY, 11/24, AT NOON. YOU MAY PAY AT THE DOOR.
For the November 16, 2025 session, Israeli music will be taught by Asaf Ophir, Achi Ben Shalom, and Katja Cooper. Dance will be led by Bruce Bierman. Read more about our instructors below.
Session format: During the first 90 minutes, participants choose between instruction in music or dance corresponding to the music. Then after a short break, musicians and dancers are brought together to perform what they’ve learned. Extra time after that continues the dance party or shifts into informal jam or instruction.
Basic instrumental proficiency is recommended for musicians. All instruments, singers, and dancers are welcome.
Tickets are $25 – $54 sliding scale and may be purchased at the door.
Kids 18 and under can attend free.
No one turned away for lack of funds. Arrange volunteer/trade or reduced price entry in advance, or with the person at the door.
Additional donations are welcome to help sustain, grow, and cover the cost of this series. Additional donations would help cover travel costs of out of town instructors and many costs that are currently offset by donations.
The series is made possible by volunteer time and expertise of organizers Mike Perlmutter, Zina Pozen, and Bruce Bierman, as well as the financial support of Noah Youngs, Amos Lans, and other generous individuals, fiscal sponsorship and support by KlezCalifornia. We are grateful to our past host Sarah Wolfman-Robichaud and the JCC East Bay, and to our new hosts at Congregation Netivot Shalom.
Direct questions about the series to: JOY@KlezCalifornia.org
Instructor Bios
Achi Ben Shalom has studied music in Tel Aviv, and is known in the community as an event organizer, the leader of the band Adama and the conductor of Nigunim Chorus, the HumanGood Singers and others. He is a frequent musical contributor in congregations around the Bay Area, leading sing-along sessions and writing arrangements for bands and choruses. His extensive knowledge of Jewish music from all parts of the world have made him a go-to entertainer and musical director in the Jewish community, from family programs to elderly homes, from Bar and Bat Mitzvahs to weddings, from JCCs to Freight and Salvage. Singing in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, and Ladino, Achi is an encyclopedia of Jewish, Israeli and American folk music.
Asaf Ophir began his professional career in Israeli musicals, playing woodwinds in some of the most distinguished Israeli theaters. Asaf moved to the United States in 2014, and now performs throughout the Bay Area in many Jewish, Middle Eastern, and Balkan productions, as well as classical and jazz. He has shared the stage with artists such as Miri Mesika, Avi Kushnir, David De’or, Ustad Mahwash, and Barbra Streisand. The San Francisco Chronicle writes: “Asaf Ophir gives the clarinet the timbre of a trumpet, then a violin, then a raspy scream… the instrument’s wail almost becomes too plaintive and beautiful to bear.” AsafOphir.com
Katja Cooper was born in the Bay Area to a classically disciplined musical family and has since played and studied percussion around the world. She trained in African-Caribbean percussion in Amsterdam, Netherlands. During 14 years in Israel, she drummed with international and local musicians of Mughrabi; West Africa; Spain; Brazil; and Cuba. She utilized her eclectic genres for dance companies, a workshop facilitator, and recording artists while performing regularly with popular mainstream icons such as Rami Kleinstein in stadiums, festivals, and TV/radio broadcasts.
In 2000 Katja studied Flamenco cajon in Sevilla, Spain. While in Europe she toured with global-fusion and woodwinds master, Praful, for concerts in Germany and the Netherlands. In 2003 in the SF Bay Area she performed with Flamenco artists while researching the origin of the cajon which led her to Peruvian Creole community in SF and Lima. In 2005 Katja reunited with Israeli/Palestinian band WhiteFlag for a concert/CD tour and documentary in Lucerne, Switzerland. In the US Katja toured with South African musician Sharon Katz & Peace Train; Bay Area’s Kat Parra Sephardi jazz project; Congregations; worked with the SF Symphony Educational Program; and taught 12 years in El Cerrito K-8 music, and Jewish liturgy.
Series Dates