Tantzhoyz: Yiddish in Motion Community Dance Party

Emily Glass' Yiddish in Motion Summer Workshop has been so much fun that we're transforming the final class into a tanzhoyz community dance, with live accompaniment from the amazing KlezWest KlezJam collective, and everyone is invited to participate.

Thursday, July 24th from 7-9pm

Ben Chud Auditorium (Peretz Centre)

6184 Ash Street, Vancouver

Free street parking and underground parking will be available. The Ben Chud Auditorium is accessible by elevator.

Open to all ages, levels, and abilities

Advance registration is required

Admission by donation (suggested: $10 for adults)

Literally the epicentre of Jewish cultural celebrations in the shtetl, for generations Yiddish dance was the most elaborate coming-together of Jewish communities as well as the primary way klezmer musicians learned and honed their craft. In fact, klezmer emerged from Yiddish dance because it is fundamentally dancing music.

Emily Glass will teach from the repertoire of basic Yiddish dances, with help from the students from the Yiddish in Motion workshop: freylekhs, bulgars, patsch-tanz, hora, and zhok.

Absolutely no prior dance experience is required to participate. Come with an open attitude and we will enjoy Yiddish culture together.

Modifications, including chair dancing, will be offered to welcome all bodies. Participants can also bring a tikhls (handkerchief) to dance without physical contact.

Plus: Drop ins are still available for the July 17 class of Yiddish in Motion ($25 with 50% for youth under 18). Register here

Play an instrument? KlezWest's KlezJam is meeting on Sunday, July 13 (2-5pm) to rehearse for this special event. Register here

Emily Glass is a professional language teacher who grew up in North Vancouver hearing no Yiddish at all. Since falling in love with Yiddish at her first beginner class with Rebecca Margolis in 2015, she has been active in the Yiddish cultural world, participating in the Steiner Summer Program at the Yiddish Book Centre, KlezKanada, Yiddish Summer Paris, and Yiddish New York.

This past year, Emily took a break from teaching high school French to do a masters in Yiddish Studies at the University of Toronto. During her graduate studies and under the mentorship of KlezKanada's Avia Moore, she ran language seminars and researched the ways that Ashkenazi ways of being have been expressed in dance cultures.