Category: Dance Midrash

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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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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