Author: JoAnne Tucker

Book Signing at Jewish Education Conference

JoAnne Tucker / / Dance Midrash

We were thrilled when our publisher, A.R.E. Publishing Inc., arranged for Avodah to perform and lead a workshop at CAJE, a conference of Jewish educators.  Founded in 1976, The Coalition for the Alternatives in Jewish Education held its first conference with about 500 in attendance at Brown University.  By the time we appeared at the 15thConference at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio there were 2000 in attendance and the name had changed to The Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education.  The full company of four dancers (Kezia Gleckman Hayman, Deborah Hanna, Susan Freeman and Elizabeth McPherson) participated in a concert that combined a lecture demonstration as well as a performance. When Susan and I were not leading or attending a session we had fun being at the A.R.E. booth and signing copies of our book.  

It was very special to have the two owners of A.R.E. so actively involved in promoting our book and I was so glad to find the following two pictures in Avodah’s scrapbook. 

Rabbi Ray Zwerin introducing us at CAJE
Audrey Friedman Marcus selling our book at CAJE

Avodah had recently added a new piece to the repertory called Sisters which I will describe in detail in a later blog.  For the CAJE conference we used excerpts from the piece as part of the lecture demonstration

From l to r: Elizabeth McPherson, Susan Freeman, Kezia Gleckman Hayman, and Deborah Hanna showing moon shapes from the piece Sisters.
During the performance I could be found sometimes backstage and sometimes at the side of the auditorium running the sound.

The conference built a lot of momentum for Avodah with Jewish educators and we soon found ourselves leading regular sessions in dance midrash, particularly in Reform Congregations throughout the New York area, for the next 12 years.  I continued to attend CAJE conferences over the next several years and was often invited to do teacher-training programs in different parts of the country. 

Much to our surprise and delight, Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash received quite a few reviews in different publications. In a review in Compass, a publication of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Rabbi Nancy Weiner wrote,” What a revolutionary concept it is to blend proud academic analysis with the vibrancy of movement” (Vol. 13, No. 3, Spring– Summer 1991).  A review in the Sacred Dance Guild Journal in the Fall of 1990 pointed out that “this book not only contains introductory material to help the reader/teacher get into what it is about, but supplies beginnings for the creative teacher/dancer, on many sections of the Bible.

I found it interesting that the book was finding an audience with dancers in the Christian community. In a publication in 1992 called Phoenix Rising, which celebrated the Arts in Religion and Community, Kay Troxell, who had been active in sacred dance for 20 years, wrote:

Our dances so often reflect the New Testament that we miss the many rich opportunities offered in these books of the Torah (the Christians’ Old Testament). Moving from words to movement can bring a whole new perspective to the original words and this is what Torah in Motion does. The fact that it is designed to be suitable for children as well as adults, dancers, would-be-dancers, and those at all levels of experience, makes this book valuable to persons wanting to find dance in biblical verses and wanting to stretch their creativity as well as their bodies.  

Dance Magazine in the February 1991 issue had a nice mention of the book.  And then in 1999, Attitude: The Dancers’ Magazine did a very informative piece on the book:

..the movement improvisations of Torah in Motion are focused on community without a barrier or division of spectator and performer. Here everyone is a participant: a thinking body if you will, filled with both movement possibilities and thoughts of contemporary relevance.  Dance Midrash has wide application possibilities in summer camps, senior citizen homes, settlement houses, day camps and various adult education settings and schools.

In 2000 when A.R.E. decided not to reprint the book, Susan and I explored the possibility of making it available “on demand” through a company called “E-rights.” A.R.E gave us permission to use the cover they had designed, and the Photographer of the photos in the book, Tom Brazil, also gave us permission to use them in the “on-demand” version.  In 2014 the book became available through Open Road Media and may be purchased on Amazon. The almost 30-year journey of the book is fun for me to remember and I am delighted it is still available and being used.  

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From Dance Midrash Improvisations to Co-Authoring A Book

JoAnne Tucker / / Dance Midrash

In 1986, with Rick no longer guiding us in the improvisational sections of M’Vakshei Or, I knew that I needed to get up to speed in providing leadership in this area.  I found myself studying the weekly Torah portion more seriously, whether we had a performance that week or not. I would also make it a point to attend Saturday morning Torah study groups at Temple Emanuel, the congregation we belonged to in Westfield, NJ where we then lived.  I went as often as I could and found the discussion quite lively and stimulating.  Slowly I began increasing my library of Jewish books.  

I also asked Rabbi Norman Cohen, Professor of Modern Midrash and Dean of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion if he could meet with the dancers and me and give us some guidelines.  He agreed and we had an excellent private seminar with him where he explained the process he uses in developing Midrash.

About this time I received a letter from A.R.E. (Alternatives in Religious Education) Publishing asking if I was interested in doing a book on the role that dance could play in Jewish education.  While that triggered my imagination a bit I knew I wasn’t ready and didn’t have a real direction on what to do.  I think I wrote back that I was interested but didn’t have any specific ideas at that time.

The company successfully continued performing M’Vakshei Or regularly in Friday evening Reform Sabbath services over the next two years.  Then in the winter of 1988, another rabbinic student, Susan Freeman, joined Avodah and added a new level of enthusiasm to the process of creating dance midrash improvisations.  I shared with Susan that A.R.E. had inquired about my doing a book and I asked if she would she be interested in co-authoring it with me.  Susan had grown up in Denver where A.R.E. was based and in fact her mother was good friends with Audrey Friedman Marcus who along with Rabbi Raymond Zwerin  owned A.R.E.

We got back in touch with Audrey and began to formalize ideas for the book.  The preface of Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash describes how Susan and I “began pushing the improvisations further with the enthusiastic cooperation of Avodah dancers Kezia Gleckman, Deborah Hanna, and Beth Bardin who, in turn, also played an active role in developing ideas from which this book began to take form.”

Together we came up with an outline that could work for each of the different dance midrash exercises in the book.  First we shared the line of text we were exploring, followed by a brief description of its context. Next we provided ways to motivate movement, followed by ways to connect the text to real life experiences.  The instructions for the actual dance midrash followed, and an additional challenge concluded the exercise.  There are a total of 104 lines of text explored.  While some weekly portions have only one lesson, some have three or four.  

Audrey provided guidance with our outline and encouraged us to complete all the lessons before writing the introductory chapter. The introduction was the hardest for us to write and Audrey wonderfully edited for us.  The conclusion of the introduction shared our vision for the book and approach to exploring text:

Dance Midrash is a new and exciting way to approach the Bible.  As movement is merged with the structure and style of Midrash, participants will wrest new meaning from the biblical text.

By drawing on the material in this book, a leader can engage people of every age in an exciting and satisfying process.  Imaginations will be triggered and, in a playful and fun filled manner, participants will discover new insights into the Torah.  It won’t be long before such comments as the following are heard, “I never would have thought about the passage this way unless I danced it!” (Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash, p. xxii)

Rabbi Norman Cohen wrote a meaningful Foreword to the book, explaining the importance of the process of Midrash in finding meaning in the Bible related to contemporary life.  He continued by pointing out that many artistic forms – “writing, music, drama, visual art and dance” – can be and are being used to “bring life to the biblical text in new and creative Midrashic ways.” 

Audrey and Ray knew the importance of photographs for the book and we were given a budget to get photos that showed participants of all ages and levels of dance engaging in different Dance Midrash activities.  We asked Tom Brazil, who had regularly photographed The Avodah Dance Ensemble since 1985, to do the photographs for the book.  In the preface to Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash we thank and acknowledge the help we got with photographing:

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Brooklyn Heights Synagogue provided space for the photographic sessions.  The teachers and students in the preschool, Grade 5, Grade 8 and Senior Adult group from the synagogue contributed their time and energy through their participation in the photography sessions.  Ellen Robbins, an outstanding modern dance teacher, generously entrusted her talented students to us, helping us to illustrate a variety of Dance Midrashim.  Deborah Marcus (no relation to Audrey Friedman Marcus) brought several senior adults to one of the photography sessions.  A special thank you to all of these individuals.

I remember how thrilled I was when I saw the completed book.  The format, photos and overall look were done elegantly by Rabbi Raymond Zwerin and Audrey Friedman Marcus. I am so grateful for the care they took in guiding us through the process of writing it, formatting it and publishing it.  In the next blog I’ll write about a book signing and performance sponsored by A.R.E. at a Jewish education conference, reviews of the book and opportunities that grew out of the book.  While A.R.E. Publishing Company no longer exists, the book is still available as an ebook and here is a link to order it.

The cover of the book.  The photo features Ellen Robbins’ students exploring weaving movements inspired by Exodus 27:16:  “And for the gate of the enclosure[of the Tabernacle], a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen, done in embroidery.”  Photo by Tom Brazil.
Avodah Company members (l-r) Deborah Hanna, Susan Freeman (co-author) and
 Kezia Gleckman exploring Genesis 22:1, 22:7 and 22:11 as 
Abraham said, “Here I am.” Photo by Tom Brazil.
Susan Freeman leading a group of 5thgraders from Brooklyn Heights Synagogue exploring Genesis 12:1 when God said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land…”
Photo by Tom Brazil.
JoAnne and Susan, co-authors of Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash, had a chance to catch up in person, December 1, 2018. 

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Seeing “Mary Poppins Returns” and Remembering a California Tour

JoAnne Tucker / / New York Company

Murray and I went to see Mary Poppins Returns at our neighborhood theatre over the December holidays.  It was well attended, mainly with adults and a few families.  I had had some apprehension going to an afternoon showing, thinking that it would be filled with restless kids.  It wasn’t.  While it didn’t quite live up to the high standard of the original Mary Poppins for me there were some wonderful moments in it and I particularly loved the dance scenes with special effects that took the movement to a new level.

The finale is quite amazing and a definite highlight for me.  Angela Lansbury makes a cameo appearance as the Balloon Lady singing the song Nowhere to Go But Up. As the characters select balloons they are swept up into the air and a beautiful scene in the London sky accompanies the singing.  The sky is filled not only with the main characters but with lots of dancers too.

As I left the theatre I was reminded of an Avodah tour in 1983 to Southern California when on our day off we toured Universal Studios and learned about how special effects are done.  Rick Jacobs and Bea Bogorad volunteered to assist in one of the scenes.  Next time we saw them they were in space suits soon to take a trip in their space ship, first against a green screen and then with a different background to make it seem real.  

Bea and Rick being interviewed before their ride in space.
Bea and Rick in Space!

As I was writing this blog I checked in with a dancer, Roberta Behrendt, who I thought (but wasn’t sure) was on the tour.  She confirmed that she was indeed on the tour and remembers the special effects we saw showing the “parting of the Red Sea.” Roberta also reminded me about a day off in San Diego where the full company was photographed on a very large tree in Balboa Park.  I found the photo.

Balboa Park, San Diego.  L.to R. Jean-Ann Yzer, Dircelia Rodin in sun glasses, Roberta Behrendt, JoAnne, Bea Bogorad and Rick Jacobs standing. 

 Another memorable moment on the tour happened as we were packing the car to leave for the airport.  We had home hospitality and some of us were staying at Rick’s parents ‘ house.  We had rented a car for the trip.  Somehow or other the car keys got locked inside the trunkwhen we closed it.  There was this moment of disbelief… total shock. What were we to do next.? And before we could even decide, either Rick’s Mom or Dad had reached into the car’s glove compartment and found there was an extra set of keys.  Many sighs of relief and then this picture was taken.  We made it to the airport in time to catch our flight.

Rick holding up the extra set of keys.  From left to right, Rick, Jean-Ann, Dircelia, me, Rick’s Mom, Rick’s Dad and Bea.   Photo may have been taken by Roberta Behrendt.

Collaboration plays an important role in a small dance company like Avodah. Through the years so many dancers worked together contributing their talents and their wonderful spirit. What fun it is for me to remember not only the creative collaboration but the fun we also had together on our down time.   We worked hard, rehearsed and performed and then we got to play on our days off.

Now back to what motivated these memories, Mary Poppins Returns.  The special effects were just extraordinary and I wanted to learn more about how they did them.  A quick “Google” and I found two excellent articles.  One article goes into detail related to how a broken bowl becomes an amazing adventure and ballet:

For the creative personnel behind Disney’s flashy new sequel, the jaunt through the painterly fantasia of Royal Doulton would prove the production’s most formidable technical challenge — and as director Rob Marshall tells it, “the hardest thing I’ve ever actually done on film.” Speaking with Vulture, Marshall laid out the complicated, labor-intensive process by which the visual-effects team combined live-action, 2-D animation, and 3-D computer rendering to create a passage of eye-popping originality within a repurposing of intellectual property. Whatever a viewer’s criticisms of the film itself, there’s no denying that this sequence represents a stunning synthesis of state-of-the-art technology and old-fashioned artistry.https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/how-mary-poppins-returns-turned-a-bowl-into-a-fantasia.html

The other article describes how they created the ending scene Nowhere to Go But Up. 

The movie’s airborne finale begins on the ground in “Spring Park” aka Pinewood Gardens, where Angela Lansbury’s character hands out magical balloons. Once Mr. Banks (Ben Whishaw) and his family achieve liftoff, the practical location was swapped out for a digitally constructed backdrop. “The challenge there was to make the performances happen live as much as possible,” Johnson says. “We created a full digital park with trees and Ferris wheel along with these highly detailed CG versions of Buckingham Palace and Big Ben in the background.”
With digital London added during post-production, actors floated above the “city” wearing harnesses. Johnson explains, “We had all the principal cast members moving around on wires in front of a green screen. We shot 30 or 40 different passes because Rob has an incredible visual sense. ‘On frame 17 this dancer’s leg would be over there because it’s a nice shape and that balances some other thing. It was all very choreographed.”
https://www.mpaa.org/2018/12/how-mary-poppins-returns-vfx-supervisor-battled-english-weather-won/

Murray and I have the habit of staying through the credits of a movie.  And wow these were long credits acknowledging the large team of both live actors and animation artists involved.  Some of Disney’s traditional cartoon artists came out of retirement to participate.   The power of collaboration and bringing different elements to play with each other was outstanding and hats off to the talented team that worked on this film.   My fascination with the options available for dance and film are clearly getting more and more triggered and I am so glad to be part of the film community here in Santa Fe.

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An Exciting Outcome From Reworking Choreography

JoAnne Tucker / / Dance Midrash

Reading the description of the piece M’Vakshei Or (Seekers of Light) in publicity material for its first performance in Pittsburgh at Rodef Shalom, it is no surprise that it didn’t work.  We tried to do too much in one piece.  As I kept watching M’Vakshei Or in performance I knew that it wasn’t working the way we wanted it to.  Rick and I decided to rework the piece. Avodah’s fall 1982 Newsletter describes what we did. Instead of five parts, the piece was now three parts: Part 1 – Meditation; Part II – an  improvisation based on the weekly Torah portion; and Part III – Blessing. The first performance in the new format was at a lecture demonstration at the Hillel of the University of Texas in Austin and the second as part of a Friday evening service in Houston.

The Newsletter described:

JoAnne discussed how we create choreography on a Jewish theme. Each of the four dancers demonstrated a movement theme in Part 1 based on Jewish ritual.  The audience then participated in a discussion on the weekly Torah portion and gave suggestions to the dancers for a series of improvisations.  One improvisation was chosen and the work was performed.  Comments afterwards indicated that this approach was quite enlightening in understanding not only M’Vakshei Or but other pieces in the repertory.

Our process was also described in a review a few months later on January 24, 1983 following a concert at Temple Beth-Or in Montgomery:

A portion of the account from Exodus of the Israelites being led out of Egypt by Moses and escaping the Egyptians through the Red Sea was told by Jacobs, after which Dr. Tucker asked the audience to select a scene for the ensemble to dance and also to cast the characters.

One of the improvisational pieces became part of M’Vakshei Or, a dance based on the Torah Service.

The new format worked wonderfully with Rick summarizing a part of the Torah portion so that the congregation or audience had background they needed to become part of the process.  Sometimes Rick shared traditional commentaries on the portion as well as helping to come up with new ones.  As we performed the piece in many different settings over the next few years some of our dance midrash improvisations stand out.   One time in a concert at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion’s Los Angeles campus, one of the professors who knew Rick from his second and third year of rabbinic school at the LA campus insisted that we just be the ROCK that Jacob put his head on when he had the dream of the angels going up and down the ladder (Genesis 28:11).  So we explored in movement the energy that the rock might have had.

Another memorable moment was at a congregation in San Antonio, TX when the week’s Torah portion related to crossing the Red Sea and Rick drew upon a traditional commentary and became Naashon, the person who initiated crossing the Red Sea.  Rick boldly jumped off the bema and into the congregation! 

Rabbi Edwin N. Soslow, (of blessed memory) wrote in his Rabbi’s Message, December 1983 (Temple Emanuel, Cherry Hill, NJ):

The improvisation which members in the congregation suggested on the Torah portion will never be forgotten. Whenever I study or speak about the meaning of the story of Abraham welcoming the three angels with their message about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the birth of Isaac, I will always remember how that message was portrayed in dance.

In addition to the middle section of the piece providing an educational opportunity to introduce the Torah portion of the week, the choreography based on ritual movement in the opening and closing sections gave us another teaching moment.  As I mentioned earlier, each of the four dancers in the piece demonstrated a short phrase based on ritual movement prior to performing the piece. One dancer shared a phrase based on putting on the prayer shawl.  Another dancer demonstrated in movement how the Torah is lifted following the weekly reading and turned so all may see the writing inside.  A third dancer shared how the Torah is carried through the congregation and the fourth dancer shared a phrase of movement based on the letters in God’s name: yod, hay, vav, hay.    

As I reread the comments I’ve shared here and having just watched a very old tape done in rehearsal for reconstruction purposes, I am reminded that editing and revising a piece and paring it down to the basics ended up creating a successful piece that continued in the company for years.  It inspired a book (Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash with Rabbi Susan Freeman).  We were invited to teach in summer institutes. We were guests in Rabbi Norman Cohen’s modern midrash classes at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion.  We led dance midrash classes in religious schools.  We led workshops teaching others how to lead dance midrash based on Torah portions.  

We even adapted the piece for a special event at a congregation.   M’Vakshei Or was done at Westchester Reform Congregation honoring Rick on his 10thanniversary of service in June of 2001. I joined adult congregation members and danced in the opening and closing sections.  Children from the religious school interested in dance did improvisations based on the Torah portion.  The entire confirmation class (16-year olds) enthusiastically engaged in honoring their Rabbi. The following three photos are from the final rehearsal for the Friday night service.

JoAnne with Members of Westchester Reform Temple in M’Vakshei Or.
Young dancers from the Religious School of Westchester Reform Temple.
Part of the Confirmation Class of
Westchester Reform Congregation.

As I am writing this week’s blog I am deeply grateful for the contribution Rick made in collaborating on the creation of M’Vakshei Or.  As I watched the rehearsal video of the piece and then found myself looking at videos of other related repertory I am reminded of the incredibly talented dancers that have shared their gifts with Avodah.  I am so grateful for their contributions both in helping to create the work they performed in and their outstanding performances.  I extend a very deep bow of gratitude to these wonderfully talented individuals!  

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Avodah Posts Audition Notice for a Tall Male Dancer

JoAnne Tucker / / Avodah's Early History, Dance Midrash, New York Company

Performances – whether in services or as concerts – were growing for both the New York and Florida companies now that bookings were arranged by the Jewish Welfare Board’s Lecture Bureau.  In Tallahassee, Michael Bush consistently danced with the company but in New York it seemed like every few months we were auditioning for a new male dancer.  In the fall of 1980 the company’s female dancers (Lynn Elliott, Beatrice Bogorad, Barbara Finder, and Nanette Josyln) were all tall.  So when I posted an audition notice I indicated that I was looking for a tall male dancer.

Continuing our relationship with Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) we were now rehearsing and working out of their new campus on West 4thStreet. The recently constructed five-story building took up the entire block from Mercer to Broadway. The chapel offered a lot of flexibility in how it could be set up and would prove to be an excellent performing space. In the lower level were several large rooms that worked for rehearsals (although as the repertory grew with more leaps and falls, we later rented rehearsal space in Chinatown that had beautiful, safer floors for dancers).  

I made several attempts to see how I might blend the two companies together.  For one tour in upstate New York, two Tallahassee dancers, Judith Blumberg and Michael Bush, joined Bea Bogorad, Barbara Finder, and Lynn Elliot for several performances.  At another time Lynn Elliott came to Tallahassee to rehearse and then perform in Savannah. Blending the companies didn’t really achieve the ensemble feeling that each group had independently and which I valued, so I chose to have the two companies operate separately but with similar repertory.

The New York company had a booking on a Friday night in the fall of 1980 as part of the Shabbat service, at a reform congregation on Long Island.  I had arrived in New York a week before and posted audition notices for a tall male dancer. Several men showed up but Rick Jacobs was the obvious choice. Rick is 6’4” and was then a fourth-year rabbinic student at the New York Campus.  In an article in The Chronicle  (a publication of HUC-JIR) two years later, Rick told the writer about this time in his life:

Rick was living what he described as a “very schizophrenic” life without much hope that he could integrate his commitment to the rabbinate and his love of dance.  It had been a constant struggle to continue the dance training he had begun as an undergraduate at the University of California at Santa Barbara.  He managed to find sympathetic dance instructors in Jerusalem and Los Angeles, and had taught dance in the Reform movement’s summer camps……

Rick auditioned on Tuesday and danced with the company on Friday.  He quickly learned the two pieces for Friday’s service, Sabbath Woman and In Praise.  

Three photos of Rick Jacobs and
Nanette Joslyn in the “Barechu” duet
from  In Praise
Lynn Elliott in the “May the Words” solo from  In Praise

While Rick only had to learn those two pieces for the Friday night service, Avodah’s repertory had grown to five regularly performed pieces and Rick soon learned two more pieces of the repertory, I Never Saw Another Butterfly and the part of Abraham in Sarah.  

With Rick joining the company, new ideas began to fly and it wasn’t long before Rick and I were collaborating on a new piece based on rituals of the Torah service.  Earlier that year I had met David Finko, a composer and recent immigrant from the Soviet Union. David had written symphonies and other major works that were performed in the Soviet Union and Europe.  I suggested to Rick that David might be a good choice to compose music for our new piece.  So one day we drove down to Philadelphia to meet with David and talk to him about our idea for the new piece.  I remember it as an inspiring day with very warm hospitality provided by David’s lovely wife who cooked a special meal for us.  We shared our ideas about a piece in five parts opening with a meditation section based on ritual movement.  I don’t remember much about three of the sections as they ended up being cut about a year later.

My scrapbook provides some useful information. The Temple Bulletin from Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh, where the piece would receive its premiere having been commissioned by the 125thAnniversary Fund of the congregation, describes the new work, M’Vakshei Or (“Seekers of Light”) as blending words, dance and music “together to encourage modern Jews to search Torah for its wisdom.”  It continues describing the piece: “Establishing a prayerful mood, the dance cantata presents the ‘sacred weaving of tales’ and ‘laws that guide our lives.’”  

Helping to create M’Vakshei Or and dancing in the first performances of the piece were other company members.  Lynn Elliott, who was in the first New York City performances, continued working with the company, bringing her background from Interlocken Arts Academy, college training at SUNY at Purchase, studies with Alfredo Corvino and performing experience with the Dance Circle Company.  Joining her was Nanette Joslyn from Los Angeles where she performed at Disneyland and with the Santa Barbara Ballet.  Barbara Finder had an MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan and also studied dance at the Martha Graham Studio, and with both the Jose Limon Company and Anna Sokolow.  Dina McDermott grew up in New Jersey and had recently completed her BFA from Juilliard.  

Beatrice Bogorad was no longer working with the company, having begun work with Charlie Moulton, and then later with Susan Marshall. Luckily a few years later her schedule made it possible for her to again work with Avodah. 

Barbara Finder moved on and by the time the piece was performed in New York City  at the Emanu-El Midtown Y on 14thStreet, Roberta Behrendt had joined the company.  Roberta had attended the Alabama School of the Arts and had a BA in dance from Florida State University and I was of course aware of Florida State’s fine dance department.  I was thrilled to have so many excellent dancers to work with.

M’Vakshei Or,  performed at the 14thSt. Y. Dancers from L to R: Rick Jacobs, Lynn Elliott, Roberta Behrendt, and Nanette Joslyn. Photo by Amanda Kreglow.

Repertory performed on May 1 – 2, 1982 at the 14thStreet Y was Sabbath Woman, Sarah, Mother of the Bride, Noshing,and Kaddish.  I’ll have more to say about the two comic pieces Mother of the Bride and Noshing in later blogs, and Kaddish when I talk about more repertory created for Holocaust Programs.  But my thread for the next several blogs will relate to what we learned from M’Vakshei Or.

From L to R: Nanette Joslyn, Dina McDermott, and Lynn Elliott in Sabbath Woman. A favorite picture of mine from the 14thSt. concert.  Photo by Amanda Kreglow.

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A Three-Week Season in NYC

JoAnne Tucker / / Avodah's Early History, New York Company

I think Stanley Brechner, the Artistic Director of the American Jewish Theatre, came to our performance at Hebrew Union College in April of 1979 and that is where the discussion first began for us to become part of the American Jewish Theatre’s 1979 – 1980 season.  I found in my file two letters between myself and Stanley Brechner. Avodah would receive 70% of the box-office receipts with ticket prices in the range of $2.50 to $3.50 in a house that seated 90.   While that wasn’t great compensation I do remember knowing this was a great opportunity for us to have exposure in the New York area.  An article in Show Business (September 27, 1979) was among the publicity we got for the three-week run:

            “The American Jewish Theatre produces, mostly comedies and dramas, although occasionally we do musicals and dance,” says artistic director Stanley Brechner. “Quality is the first criterion,” he stresses, “although the play should deal with the Jewish experience in some way.”

As I began to work on this blog, I was curious to learn more about the American Jewish Theatre. Did it still exist? And if not what was Stanley Brechner doing?  I got some answers but not all.  The American Jewish Theatre was founded in 1974 by Stanley Brechner.  Henry St. Settlement gave them space for three to four productions a year, office space, use of telephones but no money. By the end of the 1979 season they had moved to the 92nd Street Y and remained there until 1987. Shortly after that they occupied the Susan Block Theatre in Chelsea as a subtenant of the Roundabout Theatre. In 1993 an article in The New York Times (July 17, 1993) reported a disagreement between the Roundabout Theater and its tenant, the American Jewish Theater, over the occupancy of the Susan Block Theater because the Roundabout said it wanted to use the space itself.  Locks were changed and all the property of the American Jewish Theater was moved to a locker.  Stanley Brechner is quoted as saying, “The American Jewish Theater is now homeless.”  The article went on to point out that the American Jewish Theater had 2,500 subscribers and an annual budget of $375,000.  

It appears that they continued producing plays through 1998. After that I can’t find any professional information on either the American Jewish Theater or what Stanley Brechner is currently doing.

Back to 1979 and our performances in the very simple and intimate recital hall of Henry Street. We presented the five pieces in our repertory at that time: In Praise, Sabbath Woman, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, Sarah, and Shevet Ahim Gam Yahad.  I have written about the first four of those pieces in earlier blogs. Shevet Ahim Gam Yahad (“behold, how good it is to dwell together”) was set to music of Lucas Foss and explored how we can relate to each other as community.  I did not feel most of the piece was successful but did love a trio section that later I included, to different music, in a piece that we created for the Selichot Service.

Beatrice Bogorad and Randy Allen rehearse the section I like from Shevet Ahim Gam Yahad in the Creative Dance Center in Tallahassee where I created the piece.

Among the dancers in the Fall of 1979 in New York City was Beatrice Bogorad whom I met when she was a dance major at Florida State University in Tallahassee.  Bea came to dance late in her college career and I remember seeing her in class when she first came and wondering if she would make it in the dance world.  Well…. she sure did and I was so glad that she worked with us first in Tallahassee and then continued to perform with the New York company when she was available.

Our Poster for the Performances at Henry Street Settlement as part of the
American Jewish Theater.

As a relatively unknown modern dance company in New York City and with so many performances it was a challenge to fill the house.  Luckily Henry St. and the American Jewish Theater had a following. Sometimes we were totally full and at other times we had small audiences.  One particular night stands out very clearly in my mind. There were only six people in the audience.  However, one of those attending was Jennifer Dunning, one of three dance critics of The New York Times.  Hum… do I share this with the dancers?  I pondered and then thought I had best mention it because I certainly did not want them to be discouraged with such a small audience.  They, of course, danced beautifully.  We eagerly waited for the review to appear in the paper.  Alas, it didn’t. I learned that many reviews are cut based on space and the editor of the section.  I did call the Times  and ask if we could see the review and a week or so later I received it in the mail. It was quite respectable and while I couldn’t quote from it, it was very reaffirming.  The review was positive to all the dancers and ended with, “Miss Bogorad, in particular, is a young dancer to keep an eye on.”  Indeed she was right on, for over the next several years, Bea danced with Charles Moulton and Susan Marshall, consistently receiving outstanding reviews.  We were thrilled when she was free and could continue to perform with Avodah.

Having a three-week season so early in Avodah’s history taught me many things.  Among them were never judge an audience by size for one never knows who is there and how they might impact you, and repeated performances help to build a quality level in a company.  

Richard Osborne, Bea Bogorad and Lynn Elliott in I Never Saw Another Butterfly in the Recital Hallat Henry St. Settlement, October 1979.

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Exploring Biblical Sarah

JoAnne Tucker / / Dances on Biblical Women, New York Company, Tallahassee

The third piece that Irving Fleet and I collaborated on was called Sarah. I mentioned it in the blog about the beginning of the New York company and want to go into more detail about the piece in this blog. Irving is quoted in an article in the Tallahassee Democrat as saying, “JoAnne was always intrigued with the character of Sarah” (March 2, 1979).  And I hunch that was probably what motivated us to begin exploring her story.  We honed in on that part of her life centered on first being unable to bear a child for her husband, then offering her handmaiden, Hagar, to bear a child for her and finally, when she becomes pregnant, Abraham celebrating the news.  For me this was the beginning of my own journey creating “dance midrash.” Midrash refers to both the early interpretations and commentaries on Torah as well as modern ones.  At the time I didn’t know this word. Later I would create a number of dance pieces that I considered midrash, co-author a book on dance midrash (Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash, with Rabbi Susan Freeman), and teach many workshops involving dance midrash. 

While telling the story was somewhat important, it was exploring Sarah’s emotions that we focused on the most: Sarah’s anguish at not becoming pregnant; her jealousy and anger at Hagar when Hagar does bear a child for Abraham, which results in Sarah banishing Hagar; and then her joy when she becomes pregnant in her old age.  

Ritual movement again played an important choreographic role in the piece.  When Abraham renews his covenant with God following news of Sarah’s pregnancy, Sarah, in our midrash, takes off the rope from her gown and gives it to Abraham.  He then uses it for tefillin (ritual leather boxes with straps, which contain Torah text). Tefillin are traditionally only worn by men during the weekday morning service. They wrap one set around the arm, hand and fingers, and wrap the other set above the forehead. As Abraham is often referred to as the father of the morning prayer this ritual seemed an appropriate one to draw on.  In the same article in the Tallahassee Democrat that I referred to earlier I am quoted as saying, “Dance composition should go back to everyday gestures, take them, enlarge and manipulate them.”  And that is exactly what I did with the ritual of wrapping tefillin. I thought it worked very well.  However, not everyone agreed with me.  In fact, we had received some funding that year from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and when the piece was later performed in New York City, the Executive Director from the NFJC made a very strong point of letting me know that I clearly didn’t understand what wrapping tefillin was, as it was entirely inappropriate for Sarah to hand Abraham the rope from her gown to use.  Indeed I did very much understand and part of my feminist statement was purposefully to have Sarah hand it to him.

On Saturday March 3, 1979, the first performance of Sarah was held as part of a concert at Temple Israel in Tallahassee along with Sabbath Woman, In Praise and I Never Saw Another Butterfly.   The piece was created on the Tallahassee company with Ellen Ashdown as Sarah, Michael Bush as Abraham, Judith Lyons as Hagar and  two handmaidens, Donna Campbell and Trish Whidden. 

From my scrapbook. Photograph that was part of the Tallahassee Democrat article,
March 2, 1979.

Six weeks later I recreated the piece for the New York company with Lynn Elliott dancing the role of Sarah in a performance at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion’s West 68thStreet Campus.  

In the fall of 1979, we did a three-week season at Henry St. Settlement House on the Lower East Side of New York City as part of the American Jewish Theater.  This was an excellent experience for us and I will write a full blog about it.  For right now I want to share part of a review from Dance Magazine (by Marilyn Hunt) of  the performance of Sarah  at Henry St. 

             Sarah, a Grahamesque drama of a woman of large-scale passions is portrayed concisely and lucidly. Sarah vents her despair at being childless by lashing one leg around, pacing, and whipping her hair in a circle.  In contrast, her handmaiden, young Hagar, whom Sarah gives to her husband, Abraham, to bear him a child, carries her imaginary water jar with chest thrust proudly forward and has a formal ritual-like mating with Abraham.  Only the ending, God’s promise that Isaac, Abraham and Sarah’s belatedly-born son, would father the tribes of Israel, failed to come across in dance terms.  The two women’s roles were especially well filled by Lynn Elliott and Peggy Evans.  Dance Magazine, February 1980.   

A year later when Rick Jacobs, who was then a rabbinic student at HUC-JIR, joined the company and learned the part of Abraham, the ending blessing took on a whole new dimension, as the prayer and actual movement were already deeply meaningful to him, and he performed the section in a uniquely heartfelt way. 

Rick Jacobs as Abraham, 1981.  Photo by Amanda Kreglow
Rick Jacobs and Lynn Elliott in Sarah. Photo by Amanda Kreglow.

Sarah continued to be beautifully performed regularly by the New York company during the next several years with Rick dancing the part of Abraham, and Lynn Elliott dancing the part of Sarah.  For me Sarah was the first of a series of pieces focusing on Biblical women.  And I would revisit Sarah, more than once. 

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Poetry and Art Inspire I Never Saw Another Butterfly

JoAnne Tucker / / New York Company

In the last post I mentioned the piece I Never Saw Another Butterfly.  It was actually created in 1977 in Tallahassee, Florida receiving its first New York performance at Temple Israel in 1978.  This was the first of four pieces that I created between 1977 and 2002 to remember the Holocaust or as memorial pieces for the Holocaust.  The book I Never Saw Another Butterfly  first came out in the early 60’s.  By 1977 there was a lot of interest in the poems both in music and in dance.  In fact, I was not the only choreographer that year to set some of the poems.  Pearl Lang created her I Never Saw Another Butterfly in 1977, as did Wendy Osserman collaborating with composer Peter Schlosser.

Pearl Lang was a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company from 1942 to 1952.  When she left the company to form her own company in 1952, one of the first pieces she did was Song of Deborah, and she continued to often create works related to her Jewish background. In a radio interview in 1977 she referred to the piece I Never Saw Another Butterfly as a memorial to the Holocaust. I did not get to see Lang’s Butterfly but I did see an earlier piece she created in 1960 called Shirah, which I found hauntingly beautiful.  I also had the opportunity to study with Pearl in 1960 at the Connecticut College Summer Dance Program.  For six weeks in an hour-long composition class a small group of students, maybe four or five of us, worked on studies. I was assigned to do a laughter study and an anger study.  Another older member of the class created a piece inspired by the fragile character Laura in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. I don’t remember the dancer’s name but the delicate way she wove movement together left a lasting impression.

 In dance classes with Louis Horst at Juilliard, particularly his second year class called Modern Forms, he often encouraged us to visit museums and to even develop pieces inspired by the art that we saw.  The Museum of Modern Art was one of my favorite places to go and there was one picture that I was strongly drawn to.  Titled Hide and Seek, it was painted by Pavel Tchelitchew in 1942.  The picture is a tree made up of children.  There are arms reaching for each other, faces calling out, hands and toes as roots of the tree. Standing in front of the painting I felt life and death captured in the same moment.  The painting seemed to cry out to me just as the poems in I Never Saw Another Butterfly did.  In studying the painting I saw five particular parts that stood out and so I decided to limit the piece and only set five of the poems.  Each dancer would recite a poem as they moved based on the five images that stood out. 

In my file on I Never Saw Another Butterfly is a postcard of the painting, sent to me by Nanette Joslyn, a dancer in the NY Company in the early 80’s who also shared that she was dancing at the time with Pearl Lang in a spoof on the Esther–Modecai story.

Postcard of Pavel Tchelitchew’s painting Hide and Seek sent to me by Nanette Joslyn.

A description of the book tells us that 15,000 children under the age of 15 passed through the concentration camp of Terezin.  Fewer than 100 survived. The poems and also pictures that they drew shared both the daily misery as well as their hopes and fears, their courage and optimism. 

There are only a few pieces of my choreography that I could get up and do now or at least set with only limited help of a video, and I Never Saw Another Butterfly is one of them. I also think it had the longest history of performances in the company, being performed through the early 2000’s. It opens with the group of dancers close together doing a random number of steps and stops as if they were bundled in a train car that stopped and started in no particular pattern.  1 hold 2 walk 3, 4, 5, hold 6 walk 7 and so the piece starts.  Later they peel off and take shapes related to the poem and it is from these shapes that each dancer emerges to begin his or her poem.  

 Bea Bogorad and Randy Allen rehearsing I Never Saw Another Butterfly at the Creative Dance Center Studio in Tallahassee, Florida.  Can you see the arms reaching for each other in Pavel’s painting that inspired this moment?

I was still performing with the company and my poem began:

I'ld like to go away
Where there are other nicer people,
Somewhere in the far unknown
Where no one kills one another.

After the first performance in Tallahassee, a member of the audience that I only knew casually came up to me and said he was very moved by the piece and that he was about to close out a bank account and wanted Avodah to have the balance left of $600.  That was a large contribution for our little company back in 1977 and we were most grateful.

The title poem captures both the optimism and the despair:

The last, the very last
So richly, brightly, dazzling yellow
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
Against a white stone.

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly way up high.
It went away I'm sure
Because it wished to kiss the world goodbye.

For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto
But I have found my people here
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut candles in the court
Only I never saw another butterfly.

As I write this, I have a sinking feeling in my stomach, aware of the current news where we in this country are separating immigrant children from their parents and putting them in large detention camps behind barbed wire and bars. Maybe this piece needs to be revived and seen again with the backdrop of current day pictures reminding us that we cannot be silent and allow this to continue.

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Beginning of the New York Company

JoAnne Tucker / / New York Company

While I am fuzzy on dates and exactly how I started a second company of Avodah in New York City I am clear on what motivated me.  A modern dance company based on Jewish liturgy, rituals, text and history needed to be located in a place where there would be lots of opportunities for bookings and performances.  Tallahassee was not that place.  Yes, we had done a bit of touring in Savannah, Pittsburgh, Tampa and even one performance in Closter, NJ but somehow that wasn’t enough for me.  While I found Tallahassee a wonderful place to experiment, to develop repertory, I longed for more opportunities to tour and share the repertory.  The idea of having a second company based in New York City and making regular trips to New York really appealed to me.

By this time, I had stopped performing myself, stepping into the role of choreographing, directing and managing the business side of the company and non-profit.  Around the same time, my father was spending a lot of time in the New York office of the sportswear company he worked for, and my sister, Peggy, had decided to make a transition to working in New York. My father and Peggy found a lovely apartment on the East side near the UN and so I had a place to stay. Peggy and I recently brainstormed exactly when that was and we think it was in May 1978.  As best as I can tell from programs in my scrapbook, it was the summer of 1978 when I formed a company of 5 dancers and did an evening performance at Temple Israel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

How did I find the dancers?  Well what is coming to mind is that I returned to take some classes from a favorite teacher of mine from Juilliard, Alfredo Corvino, who had a studio called Dance Circle on 8thAvenue between 46thand 47thStreet.  That is where I found Lynn Elliott who would dance with the company for quite a few years.  A dancer from Tallahassee that I had worked with, Peggy Evans, had moved to New York City and so I reached out to her to join the company. Three other dancers, Kathy McDonald, Yael, and Benjamin Greenberg, I may have found through an audition notice or perhaps I also found them at Alfredo Corvino’s studio. 

Rabbi Walter Jacob, by then an Avodah Board member, reached out to Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, located at that time on West 68thStreet, and arranged for us to have rehearsal space at the school.  That was the beginning of a long-term relationship with HUC-JIR.  I hoped to invite people to the concert at Temple Israel who could help with bookings for the New York company.  I have pictures that clearly show the repertory we did and that Irving Fleet joined us for the performance working with a choir for In Praise.  Other pieces performed in the afternoon concert were Sabbath Woman and a newly created piece, I Never Saw Another Butterfly.  The bema of the Temple provided a beautiful setting for the concert and one major contact was made for the company that had a profound impact on our development both in increased bookings for the New York company and in Florida for the Tallahassee company.

Kathy McDonald as the bride in Sabbath Woman.
Yael in front, Kathy behind in I Never Saw Another Butterfly.

Stephan Bayer, head of the Lecture Bureau for the Jewish Welfare Board (now called the Association of Jewish Community Centers), attended the concert and asked if he could add us to the roster of people they represented.  Furthermore, Stephan also agreed to welcome me into the Lecture Bureau office and teach me how to book performances and put a tour together.  I am forever grateful to Stephan for the role he played in helping us develop as a company.  Later Stephan joined our board and served as an outstanding President for a number of years. Our next New York performance was in the spring of 1979 as part of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion’s Sunday Afternoon at the College Series.  Lynne Elliott, Peggy Evans and Kathy McDonald continued to dance with the company and two new dancers, Holly Kaplan and a male dancer whose name I can’t recall, joined us.  The three pieces done in the summer were included along with a new piece Sarah which I had created in Tallahassee with the help of a grant from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture.  The piece received its first performance in Tallahassee at Temple Israel on March 3 and six weeks later I restaged it with the New York company.  

Lynn Elliott in Sarah at HUC-JIR.

While the area the dancers had to work on was small, I remember being so proud of the performance they gave and I love this picture which was taken of us outside of HUC-JIR after the performance.

From Left to Right: JoAnne Tucker, Irving Fleet, unknown male dancer, Kathy McDonald, Peggy Evans, Lynn Elliott and Holly Kaplan.

I feel so very grateful to have had long-term relationships with dancers in the company.  Each relationship has taken on its own special character.  Lynn Elliott worked with the company for a number of years and many years later her daughter Justine performed with us.  I will be writing more about Lynn in later blogs.  While Kathy McDonald only danced with us in New York for that first year, she has kept in touch with the company and myself through the years. Each year she has sent a contribution first during Avodah’s fundraising campaign and now Healing Voices – Personal Stories. I always feel a wonderful glow as I open the envelope and remember her beautiful lyrical quality portraying the bride in Sabbath Woman.  Many years later, Kezia, looking for a place to take adult ballet classes in Poughkeepsie,  found a wonderful class taught by Kathy, who had opened a studio there specifically for adult dancers.  Besides realizing they had both been in Avodah, they discovered they had performed the same solo in I Never Saw Another Butterfly.   

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Reflection on the “Jews and Jewishness in the Dance World” Conference

JoAnne Tucker / / Current Dance Events, Movement Workshops

Let me begin by sharing the history of how and why I decided to go to this conference.  I saw a notice about it posted by Naomi Jackson on the National Dance Education Association bulletin board about a year and a half ago.  Shortly after seeing it, I received a copy of the notice from Elizabeth McPherson, who danced in Avodah for seven years and with whom I have kept in regular touch, often meeting on my occasional trips to NYC.  She wanted to make sure I saw it and wanted to encourage me to apply. What followed was a series of emails with Naomi, as I wondered what kind of presentations she had in mind, and then later emails with Elizabeth.  The conference seemed to be very broad, looking at “Jewishness” and dance from many different angles.  Since I have moved on from The Avodah Dance Ensemble and using Jewish themes as motivation for creating choreography or doing workshops, I wanted to share something that felt current to me now.  In discussions with Elizabeth the idea of presenting on Helen Tamaris came up.  She was a pioneer modern dancer, and Jewish, and most important to me, her work is the thread that influenced both the work that I did with Avodah and the work that I do now.  Perfect.

So we came up with the idea that Elizabeth and I would submit together.  She would share the history of Helen Tamiris, teaching one or two sections of Helen Tamiris’s Negro Spirituals, (see Blog Honoring Helen Tamiris on how we added Negro Spirituals to Avodah’s repertory) and I would share some ideas from studying composition with Tamiris. I was thrilled and while still feeling a sense of reluctance to attend, I felt very good about the presentation I would be part of.  And what a surprise I received.

Elizabeth presenting her paper on Tamiris.

Elizabeth teaching “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” from Tamiris’s Negro Spirituals

Naomi set up a Google Drive where we could all share information from books published related to Jewish dance, choreography by Jewish choreographers or pieces on Jewish themes.  Lots of sharing went on as well as discussions on a logo for the conference and individuals’ memories of important influences in their work.  I followed and did post a little.  My husband and good friend Regina commented to me that every time I mentioned the conference I made a strange face that clearly lacked enthusiasm.  I wondered what three days of the conference would mean for me and didn’t have high hopes.  And clearly I was not alone in feeling this way, as once there, this questioning came up in quiet conversations.  But the thank you’s after the conference, again using our connection through Google Drive, were unanimous in sharing how good and meaningful the conference was and hoping there would be more.

In addition to Elizabeth, my good friend and dance/film collaborator Lynne Wimmer decided to go to.  (See Blog on “In Praise” in Pittsburgh and watch the film “Through the Door” which we co-directed in 2016.) Lynne and I would be roommates and we looked forward to catching up on our recent adventures.  So I went knowing that at least I would be hanging out with people I really enjoyed. I also decided to drive so that I would have a car to make it easy to get around and do other things in the area should the conference be “boring.”  It wasn’t at all boring, but the car was helpful in enabling us to select restaurants that weren’t in easy walking distance.

The overall energy of the conference was a genuine sharing of who we are and our role in dance and how it might relate to our “Jewishness.” From presentations on key historical figures (such as ours about Helen Tamiris), to panels on dance therapy or how one’s choreography related to social justice, participants shared enthusiastically and audience members listened carefully and respectfully.  For the majority of the time slots of an hour and fifteen minutes we had to select which one of four presentations we wanted to attend and it was often hard to choose since all looked good.

The opening evening program on Saturday  was a selection of dance films curated by Ellen Bromberg, Professor at the University of Utah who teaches Screendance. I loved seeing an early film of Daniel Nagrin and the fun film techniques used in 1953 when the film was made.

Sunday night was a concert curated by Liz Lerman and Wendy Perron.  Outstanding moments from the concert were: a piece beautifully performed by college-age Maggie Waller; Send Off performed by Jesse Zarrit to a recorded text of Hanoch Levin focused on the Akedah (the binding of Isaac) from Issac’s point of view; and The Return of Lot’s Wife by Sara Pearson in which Lot’s wife finally confronts God in her 1950’s Brooklyn kitchen.  All pieces were beautifully danced and the last two I mentioned had a wonderful sense of humor to them.

A photograph from Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash that I co-authored with Rabbi Susan Freeman in 1990 was included in the Exhibition of “Reimagining Communities Through Dance” curated by Judith Brin Ingber and Naomi Jackson.

From Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash. Rabbi Susan Freeman working with students from Brooklyn Heights Synagogue.  Photo by Tom Brazil

I found the panel on Dance Therapy to have a lot of historical information and loved the presentations by two of the women, Miriam Berger and Joanna Harris. An intense panel “Exploring the Complex Relations Between Jews and non-Jewish Arabs through Dance” followed and stirred some interesting reflections on whether dance events can help build relationships.

Perhaps the most meaningful moments came the last day and were both experiential movement moments. One was leading the experiential part of our presentation on Helen Tamiris. Tamiris’s composition class focused on the use of gesture to build movement.  I chose to share a way I use this idea with non-dancers.  I asked each of the 15 participants to say one or two words of how they felt at the moment and then we went around with each sharing a gesture that fit their word.  It was an intergenerational group all with a strong dance background and as we built a phrase of our 15 gestures a warmth and community developed.

Later that day I attended a workshop by Victoria Marks and Hannah Schwadron called “Dancing Inter-connections.”  Again it was an intergenerational experience with over 30 participants.  One improvisation featured us finding the way to move in the space between us.  The weaving was fun to do and we had to be inventive to find the space between us. The ending improvisation focused on the word “lingering” in movement interactions. That was particularly rich and beautiful.  In the feedback afterwards one of the young college-age dancers mentioned how meaningful it was to dance with the older generation.  How she felt nurtured and empowered.  And how wonderful that felt, to hear it come from a young woman.

As I reflect back on the experience I am of course very glad to have gone. I loved the many new and renewed connections.  And I wonder whether it was the Jewishness or the dance that so resonated for me, or the combination. I am most grateful to Naomi Jackson for her leadership in maintaining an openness and inclusiveness within the intent of the conference.  Once again I am reminded of the important spiritual connection for me in dance, both by moving, myself, and being inspired by watching dance.

    Closing ceremony dance. Photo by Tim Trumble