The Joy of Jewish Music and Dance: Zoë Aqua

Join the JCC East Bay for a new monthly series celebrating “The Joy of Jewish Music and Dance!” Great for musicians, dancers, and enthusiasts to meet, schmooze, or simply to take in the beauty of these rich traditions.

Each session has three parts:

1. During the first hour, participants can choose between two spaces to learn multi-ethnic music and dance technique and styles.
2. Participants will all come together for the second hour for a dance party focusing on the dances and tunes taught in the prior hour.
3. The third hour will be an informal music jam in one or more of the classroom spaces at the JCC.

Sheet music and reference recordings as available will be posted to the KlezCalifornia tune archive.

This session will have music lead by Zoë Aqua. Zoë Aqua is a violinist, educator and composer. She was awarded a Fulbright research grant for the 2021-’22 and 2022-’23 academic years to study Transylvanian folk music pedagogy in Cluj, Romania. In 2022, she released an album of original compositions recorded with Eastern European musicians entitled “In Vald Arayn” (Into the Forest). Zoë is a co-founder of klezmer bands Tsibele and Farnakht, and served as the full-time understudy for the Klezmatics’ Lisa Gutkin in the Broadway production of “Indecent”. An in-demand teacher known for her warm and accessible style, she holds two degrees in music education.

Dance will be led by Bruce Bierman.

Tickets are $72.00 for the five-session series or $18.00-$54.00 sliding scale for a single session. The workshop takes place at the JCC East Bay in Berkeley.

This event is supported, in part, by a grant from KlezCalifornia’s Yiddish Culture Fund.