WEST BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Area Jewish Community presents Klezmer Music and Dance Party on Sunday, June 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
From 10 a.m. to noon, there will be two concurrent artist-in-residence workshops. The first is “Go Figure: Learning the Basics of Klezmer Dance,” with Steven Weintraub. Everyone is invited, with no experience necessary.
Weintraub received his dance training in Manhattan with Alvin Ailey and Erick Hawkins, among others. According to the artist's website, he is in international demand as a teacher of traditional Yiddish dance at festivals and workshops including Klezkamp, Klezkanada, and festivals in Krakow, Furth, Paris, and London. He has often been called the “Pied Piper of Yiddish Dance,” the website continues, and his years of experience leading and researching Yiddish dance “allow him to quickly weave dancers and music together in astonishing ways.” Learn more at stevenleeweintraub.com.
Margot Leverett will also be presenting “Klezmer Tunes for Everyone,” which is open to all levels; anyone with an instrument is welcome to participate.
Leverett is one of the foremost clarinetists of the klezmer revival. She was the original clarinetist in the Klezmatics, and has performed with many other bands including her own, Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, which blended klezmer and bluegrass. She has recorded on the Traditional Crossroads label, has toured with the New York Ragtime Orchestra, been featured by the Philadelphia Orchestra, and has performed her music live with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Learn more at bit.ly/718-margot.
After a two-hour lunch break, everyone will reconvene at 2 p.m. for a klezmer dance party, with music and dance instruction provided by Weintraub, Leverett, and Matthew Schreiber.
Register in advance at bit.ly/718-klezmer. Sliding scale admission: $15–50 based on an individual's assessment of how much they will participate and what they can afford. Payment can be made through PayPal or by check payable to BAJC, P.O. Box 2353, Brattleboro, VT 05303. Payment can also be made at the door.