Welcoming Shabbat in Ladino with Sarah Aroeste Singing Buen Shabat

Tonight we welcome Shabbat with Buen Shabat, a lively song in the Ladino language, sung by Sarah Aroeste who, inspired by her family's Sephardic roots in N. Macedonia and Greece, has spent the last two decades bringing her contemporary vision for Sephardic culture- through music and books- to audiences around the world.  

Aroeste writes and sings in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish dialect that originated by Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Those who left Spain, including Aroeste’s family, carried the medieval language with them to the various points where they later settled, primarily along the Mediterranean coast and North Africa. In time, Ladino came to absorb bits and pieces of languages all along the Mediterranean coast, including some Greek, Turkish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Hebrew, and more.

This exotic pan-Mediterranean language has, unfortunately, been fading away. But the continued musical legacy of Spanish Jews highlights the strength of an oral tradition that spans centuries and crosses many geographic boundaries.

American born and trained in classical opera as a teenager at Westminster Choir College and then at Yale University, Aroeste became drawn to her Sephardic musical past after spending a summer in 1997 performing at the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv.  There, she had the fortune of studying with Nico Castel, one of the world’s great Ladino singers and coaches at the Metropolitan Opera, with whom she learned she shared a similar Sephardic background.  Continuing to study with Castel upon her return to the US, Aroeste started incorporating classical Ladino songs into her opera repertoire. She quickly realized that Ladino, not opera, was her true musical passion and soon after made the leap to studying Ladino full time.

Since then, Aroeste has been a vocal advocate for exposing new audiences to Sephardic culture and has worked tirelessly to keep Ladino alive for a new generation. Aroeste is one of few Ladino composers today who writes her own music, and whether with her original compositions or with interpreting Ladino folk repertoire, she has developed a signature style combining traditional Mediterranean Sephardic sounds with contemporary influences such as rock, pop and jazz.

Sarah sings with participation from Alan Franco and Berkshire Salsa, and members of the Latino and Jewish communities of the Berkshires, Massachusetts.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: "Jerusalema", South African Zulu Song and Dance Finds a Home in Israel

Jerusalema is a song in the Zulu language by South African DJ and record producer Master KG featuring South African vocalist Nomcebo. The upbeat gospel-influenced house song was initially released on November 29, 2019 after it garnered positive response online, with a music video following on December 21. The music video of the song has generated half a billion views on YouTube. 

It was later included on Master KG's second album of the same title, released in January 2020. A single edit was released on streaming services on July 10, 2020, after it went viral during mid-2020, garnering international reaction due to the #JerusalemaChallenge. The dance challenge was started by a group of young men in Angola and it was their video of them dancing to the song which sparked a global trend.

A remix featuring Nigerian singer Burna Boy was released on 19 June 2020. It reached number one in Belgium, Netherlands, Romania and Switzerland, while peaking in the top ten of multiple other European countries. A second remix featuring Venezuelan singer Micro TDH and Colombian singer Greeicy was released on 17 September 2020.

At the third ceremony of the African Entertainment Awards USA "Jerusalema" won the Song of the Year award.

After winning awards all around the world and inspiring dances in many countries, the song finally found its way to Israel where it was translated to Hebrew and found favor with Israelis across the religious and non-religious sectors.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Hava Nagila in Sri Lanka

The Israel Sri Lanka Solidarity Movement (ISSOM) organized an event on May 14 at Vihara Maha Devi Open Air Theatre to mark the 75 years since the Jewish State’s establishment. The event was attended by a crowd of around 2,000 who expressed solidarity with Israel.

The event was also graced by an interfaith and interethnic panel which also included a delegation of Sri Lanka’s indigenous people.

Last Sunday’s event showcased Sri Lanka and Israel’s historic interactions going back 3,000 years when the island traded spices, precious stones and exotic fauna with ancient Jewish kingdoms.

This was followed by short films on Israeli innovations in the field of medicine, education and agriculture that it is open to share with Sri Lanka. Video greetings were also shared from Israel including members of the Knesset.

The Kelaniya University dance troupe performed a rendition of the Jewish folk song ‘Nagila Hava’ with a Sri Lankan twist.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: "Rad Halaila" Hora Dance in Valladolid, Spain

You wouldn't expect Rad Halaila, a classic Israeli hora dance, to show up in a courtyard in Valladolid, a city in northwest Spain about 100 miles from Madrid. But it had so much appeal to the Valladolid World Dance Association that they adopted the name Radalaila for their dance group. 

Rad Halaila is a hora in which the dancers move individually to the right, describing a circle and entering and leaving it. It is a very energetic dance.

Enjoy!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Jerry Lewis Dances His Way Through "Cinderfella"

In 1960 Jerry Lewis starred in Cinderfella, a takeoff of the Cinderella story, in which he plays a hard-working and honest lad mistreated by his wicked stepmother and his two boorish stepbrothers.

But miracles do happen when his Fairy Godfather (Ed Wynn) transforms the klutzy fella into an eligible, handsome bachelor, ready to win the hand of a suitable Princess Charming, played by Anna Maria Alberghetti.

Let's travel back 60 years for the famous stairway dance scene in which Lewis, accompanied by the Count Basie Orchestra,  makes his way to dance with the princess and to a quick exit when the clock strikes 12.

An interesting side note: When Jerry ran up the stairs at the end he collapsed as soon as he was out of frame and was rushed to hospital. Filming was postponed for a month.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

Welcoming Shabbat with Yedid Nefesh as an Israeli Folk Dance

Yedid Nefesh is a piyyut (poem) usually sung on Friday night just before the Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming Shabbat) service begins.
 
According to Wikipedia, this beautiful poem is commonly attributed to the sixteenth century kabbalist, Rabbi Elazar ben Moshe Azikri (1533-1600), who first published it in Sefer Charedim (published in Venice 1601), but Azikri did not claim authorship of it and there have been other suggested authors (e.g. Judah Halevi, or Israel Nagara).
  
The first letters of each of the four verses make up the four letter name of God, known in English as the tetragrammaton.

We're very familiar with Yedid Nefesh as a song for Shabbat but were surprised to find out that it is also a popular folk dance in Israel. We hope you enjoy this performance choreographed by Yonatan Gabai and sung by Gad Elbaz.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!


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Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places: The Charleston Arrives in Tel Aviv

"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" are the words in a 1921 composition by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Irving Mills, now accepted as a jazz standard, characterized by jazz historian Gunther Schuller as "now legendary", "a prophetic piece and a prophetic title." 

Swing has now come to Israel, thanks to Holy Lindy Land, an organization founded by a group of dedicated dancers . Weekly classes, street parties and concerts with the best jazz bands are just part of its activities whose purpose is to expose many peoplethe the pleasure of swing dancing.

Holy Lindy Land was established in 2007. It is bringing Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues, Balboa, and more dance forms to Israel. The Holy Lindy Land staff members teach effective  techniques, improvisation and musicality, while maintaining a fun and lively atmosphere. 

The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one of the most popular hits of the decade. Runnin' Wild ran from 29 October 1923 through 28 June 1924.

In June we posted Holy Lindy Land dancers doing the Charleston in Jerusalem. Today we're sharing a video of their performance in familiar locations all around Tel Aviv.
 
Enjoy!

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Passover Videos: Key Tov Orchestra Performs a Mashup of Pesach Songs in a Dance Spectacular

Elliot Dvorin and the Key Tov Orchestra are at it again. The Chicago-based wedding band likes to use the large plaza in front of a Chicago office building as a stage for their musical productions.  

We have featured them before, performing a flash mob version of Hashem Melech in downtown Chicago, with the Kol Ish a cappella singers in a bluegrass version of Yigdal, in an Israeli salsa number in Miami, and in a Chicago mashup of Chanukah songs old and new.
.
Just in time for Pesach, they deliver a new mashup of Passover songs in a choreographed Dance Spectacular in their favorite performance space on the streets of downtown Chicago. 

As a crowd gathered and pulled out their smartphones to record the show, Elliot, the orchestra, and the dancers moved from a James Bond theme introduction to Let My People Go, Ma Nishtana, Avadim Hayinu, Ha Lachma Anya, Dayenu, and Chad Gadya.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Shalom from Israel to Ireland on St. Patrick's Day

Today is St. Patrick's Day. No, it's not a Jewish holiday, but it's a day when people all over the world celebrate the culture of Ireland, and that does include the Jewish presence in the Emerald Isle.

The history of the Jews in Ireland extends back nearly a thousand years. Although the Jewish community has always been small in numbers (not exceeding 5,500 by religion since at least 1891), it is well established and has generally  been well-accepted into Irish life. Jews in Ireland have historically enjoyed a relative tolerance that was largely absent elsewhere in Europe.

Shalom Ireland is a one-hour documentary about Ireland’s remarkable, yet little known, Jewish community. This fascinating film chronicles the history of Irish Jewry while celebrating the unique culture created by blending Irish and Jewish traditions. From gun running for the Irish Republican Army during Ireland’s War of Independence to smuggling fellow Jews escaping from the Holocaust into Palestine, Shalom Ireland tells the untold story of how Irish Jews participated in the creation of both Ireland and Israel. 

The film profiles several prominent Irish Jews including Robert Briscoe, the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Dublin; the renowned Talmudic scholar Rabbi Isaac Herzog, who served as the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland before becoming the first Chief Rabbi of Israel; and Rabbi Herzog’s Belfast-born son, Chaim Herzog who became President of Israel. Today, as their population declines and their culture is in jeopardy of extinction, Irish Jews recently launched an effort to revitalize Dublin’s once vibrant Jewish community.

Irish music and dance has found its way to Israel, and Israel has established the Israeli Academy of Irish Dance. In 2014, a group of dancers from the academy showed up on St. Patrick's Day at the Ayalon mall in Ramat Gan as a flash mob performing Irish dances to the delight of shoppers.

Here is a trailer for the film Shalom Ireland followed by the video of the Irish dance flash mob in Ramat Gan.

Enjoy!

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First International Festival of Jewish Performing Arts - 100 Events in NYC

The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, now with a permanent home at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month. And what a celebration it will be!

KulturfestNYC will consist of 100 events all over Manhattan during the week of June 14-21, including theatre, concerts, film, dance, a symposium, lectures, and workshops.

Over 100 theatre actors, musicians, and scholars will particpate from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, USA, and more countries.

Some of the events are free, and others have a $10 or $18 admission charge. Recognizing that many attendees will not understand Yiddish, all programs in Yiddish will have English subtitles projected on the screen.

One of the free events is Yiddish Soul: A Concert of Cantorial and Chassidic Music, to be performed at 7 pm on Tuesday, June 16, at Summerstage in Central Park. It will feature Avraham Fried, Netanel Hershtik, Yanky Lemmer, Joseph Malovany, and Lipa Shmeltzer

The five cantors made a TV appearance on New York's PIX11 and gave a preview of their concert. 

Enjoy!

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A Visual Guide to Chassidic Wedding Dances

Did you ever attend a Chassidic wedding and feel like an outsider because you didn't know the steps or even what the names of the dances were?  

Now AMK Productions and Chony Milecki Music have provided a video reference guide so you can impress your friends with your newly acquired knowledge.

Maybe you'll feel like such an expert after watching the video a few times that you'll even be willing to try a few steps.

The video includes such favorites as Od Yishama, Hup Cossack, Choson on the Table, The Chassidic Running Man, Penguin Dance, Mitzvah Tantz , Na Nach Nachman Style, and that perennial favorite, Hand on Your Friend's Shoulder as You Walk in a Circle.

And all that before the main course is served. Oy, are we tired.

Enjoy!

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Echad Mi Yodea Like You've Never Heard it Before - Modern Dance or Strip Haggadah?

Any way you experience it, the Passover seder can be a long evening of reading and eating, and by the time we get to the end of the Haggadah, we're ready for a change of pace. The last two songs, Echad mi Yodea and Chad Gadya, usually lend themselves to spirited and animated singing.

Around the world, many variations of these songs are performed, but the one we're sharing with you today is unique. A modern dance number choreographed by Ohad Naharin, artistic director of Israel's Batsheva Dance Company, it includes all 13 verses of the song. 

As modern dance, it's going to get different reactions from viewers in different age groups and with different artistic preferences. We're curious as to your reactions and invite your comments below.

The dance has been performed by many dance groups, including Batsheva and Alvin Ailey. We've looked at a few of them and find them to be similar, but this one by Lenka Kuzněcovová is the most expressive. The dance has been reviewed by many publications with varying interpretations.

As Valerie Gladstone wrote in the Los Angeles Times,

Twenty dancers form a semicircle as Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin's recorded voice speaks the first words of the traditional Passover song "Echad Mi Yodea" (Who Knows One), marking the beginning of his work by that name.

They sit down, lean forward and bow toward the floor. The Israeli rock group Tractor's Revenge pumps up the tempo with its version of the song. Thrusting out their chests, the dancers tilt backward in their chairs and spread their arms wide, wildly shaking their heads as if possessed. By the end, they are shouting out the lyrics and flinging off most of their clothes in an ecstatic celebration of movement and freedom.

In the Batsheva Dance Company version, the piece begins with a narrator speaking these words in a haunting voice: ”The illusion of beauty and the fine line that separates madness from sanity, the panic behind the laughter and the coexistence of fatigue and elegance.”

We take a lighter approach, and after looking at the pile of clothes left in the center of the stage at the conclusion of the piece, wonder if the group continued with Chad Gadya, what else they would take off.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Yiddish Tango is Fusion of Klezmer and Argentinian Tango

The Argentinian Tango emerged from the slums of Buenos Aires, but over the years it absorbed other musical strains as immigrants from other countries came to Argentina. 

Jews from Eastern Europe have been immigrating to Argentina and they brought with them klezmer music that has fused with the tango to create a unique music and dance form...the Yiddish Tango.

As Elizabeth Lee writes in The Jewish Voice,

For Argentine-born Gustavo Bulgach, tango is music with an attitude.
“Tango means the blues. Tango is not just tango - it means - it’s an attitude that you want to express.  In every language, in Yiddish, in Spanish - in whatever language - Tango represents that kind of attitude of losing or having your heart broken by life,” Bulgach says.

Bulgach is the band leader of the Yiddish Tango Club, a group that fuses a form of Jewish dance music known as "klezmer" with Argentine tango.

“Tango is not only Argentinian. It’s a loop from Europe also. It’s like something dramatic, and it’s the count…maybe one, two, three,” says vocalist Divina Gloria.

The band pays tribute to the music of the Jewish immigrants in Argentina.  Bulgach is Jewish, and his family emigrated to Argentina from Russia.  Jewish vocalist Divina Gloria’s family came from Poland.  Yiddish tango evokes memories of her own childhood in Argentina.

Enjoy!

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Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah Takes New Form With Russian Ballet

One of the most popular songs of Leonard Cohen -- Canadian poet, philosopher, musician, singer, songwriter, and novelist -- is his Hallelujah. 

The song was released in 1984 and had limited initial success, but found greater popularity in 1991, and since has been performed by almost 200 artists in various languages,

We featured the song a number of times in Jewish Humor Central, as performed in Israeli song contests, by Cohen in a Tel Aviv concert in 2009, and by Yeshiva University's Maccabeats (with different lyrics).

Earlier this year, the song was the basis of a performance by a ballet troupe in the city of Podolsk, Russia. It's this performance that we're posting today.

The song has always been as enigmatic as Cohen himself, and he never gave a detailed explanation of its meaning.  In 1988 interviewer John McKenna wrote about the song after a session with Cohen.in Ireland.

Here is what he wrote about Cohen's background followed by a sort of explanation by the songwriter himself.

McKenna: Leonard Cohen was born into a Jewish family in Montreal in 1934. Yet his influences come also from the Catholic and Protestant communities of that city. And perhaps its that cosmopolitan background that gives him an intriguing angle, particularly on biblical history. In the song Hallelujah, he draws on a wonderfully and subversively passionate passage in the second book of Samuel. It happened towards evening when David had risen from his couch and was strolling on the palace roof that he saw from the roof a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful. David made enquiries about this woman and was told 'why that is Bethsheba, Allion's daughter, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.' Then David sent messengers and had her brought. She came to him and he slept with her. Now she had just purified herself from her courses. She then went home again. The woman conceived and sent word to David - 'I am with child'.

In the song there's the baffled king, David, and there's the baffled singer, Leonard Cohen, in search of the lost chord that certainly pleased the lord and might possibly please the woman. And there's the original story too, reduced now to the domestic and physical situation that it was and always is. Bethsheba may have broken the throne, but she also tied David to a kitchen chair. Delilah did something similar. There's more to be learned from the bible than God's dealing with the human race. There's also the dealings of women with men. There's the hard fact that nothing can be reconciled - at least not here.

Cohen: Finally there's no conflict between things, finally everything is reconciled but not where we live. This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled but there are moments when we can transcend the dualistic system and reconcile and embrace the whole mess and that's what I mean by Hallelujah. That regardless of what the impossibility of the situation is, there is a moment when you open your mouth and you throw open your arms and you embrace the thing and you just say 'Hallelujah! Blessed is the name.' And you can't reconcile it in any other way except in that position of total surrender, total affirmation.

We enjoyed the ballet performance and hope that you will, too.

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Sofia, Bulgaria Celebrates Jewish Life

The first Festival of Jewish Culture was held outside the National Palace of Culture in Sofia on September 15 2013. The festival featured Jewish music, dance, art, cinema, literature and learning in 18 sukkah-shaped stalls. One of the presentations was on Jewish humor.

Bulgarian television celebrity chef Uti Buchvarov prepared a huge Shakshuka (one of the most popular egg dishes in Israel) for the visitors. The event was, organized by Shalom, the organization of the Jews in Bulgaria, with the support of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and a number of other organizations, including the Sofia municipality. 

The concept of the event was to give Bulgarian society the opportunity to better acquaint themselves with Bulgaria’s Jewish community in a way that organizers hope will become an annual tradition.

Especially popular was the opportunity to join in learning to make challah. Guests also had the chance to visit a replica of part of the Western Wall, and place papers with prayers, as is done in the original in Jerusalem.

Israel's ambassador in Sofia, Shaul Kamisa-Raz and leading members of the Jewish community attended the event. Musical attractions included performances by the Amsterdam Klezmer Band.

Enjoy!

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Love and Respect - Flash Mob Dances in Jerusalem to Support Pre-Nuptial Agreements

 

In mid-May, lots of couples dressed up as brides and grooms went out to dance on Ben Yehuda Street in the middle of Jerusalem to the sounds of the song "Love and Respect". The dance was created as part of a campaign of two organizations Kolech and Mavoi Satum to support the Mutual Respect prenuptial agreements. These are dedicated to to insure that women who seek a Jewish divorce (get) will not encounter a “dead end” that results from insensitive legal interpretations and stringencies.

In Jewish law, a woman must obtain a bill of divorce from her husband before she is able to marry again. According to women’s rights groups, there are several thousand open cases of men refusing to give their wives a get, using it as a tool to extort more favorable terms in the divorce settlement.

Mavoi Satum is promoting what it calls “an agreement for mutual respect,” a document which, if the couple signs, legally obligates a partner to pay $1,500 a month or half  of his or her salary, until he gives or she accepts a get. The penalty terms would begin six months after one party requests the request for divorce.

Not exactly Jewish humor, but it's encouraging to see some progress being made toward resolution of what has been a difficult issue in Jewish life for a long time.

And it's always nice to enjoy the sights and sounds of singing and dancing in the streets of Jerusalem.

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(A tip of the kippah to Sheila Zucker for bringing this video to our attention.)

A Unique Hava Nagila: No Music, No Words, Just Tap and Clap

We thought we'd seen every rendition of Hava Nagila -- sung in so many languages, danced in so many costumes, until we came across a new contender for the title of most unusual treatment of the universally recognized, much played and much overplayed Jewish song.

This one is a song without lyrics and without music. It's acted out in tap dance and hand clapping by the Chicago Tap Theater. It took us more than one watching to get tuned into the rhythm and follow it closely. But after a few viewings, you can get into it. It helps to sing along to the tapping of the dancers.

Chicago Tap Theatre (CTT) is a young and vibrant dance company with a unique mission to preserve the quintessentially American dance form of tap and to take tap to the next level of creativity and innovation. CTT stands apart from other dance companies by bridging the gap between tap and other forms of concert dance (such as jazz, ballet and modern) by adopting a conceptual, narrative (i.e., story-based) and more emotional approach to its work. 

Under the dynamic direction of internationally renowned dancer and choreographer Mark Yonally, CTT has gained a loyal following in its hometown of Chicago and continues to develop and enhance its reputation nationally and around the world.

Enjoy!

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