Featured Post
Free The Hostages! Bring Them Home!
(this is a featured post and will stay at the top for the foreseeable future.. scroll down for new posts) -------------------------------...
Mar 4, 2010
Get your groove on!
So I went to this sfardi bar mitzva last night. I had a blast.
There was one point where they played mizrachi music for a while. My friend, the father of the bar mitzva boy, wanted me to dance sfardi style. unfortunately, I have no idea how. The little I knew from my yeshiva days has been long forgotten.
I said I would be happy to join in, but I need some instruction - I need someone else to show me a few moves and then I could jump around and make a fool of myself happily. So, I asked around, among all the sfardim, but everybody said they don't know how to dance sfardi style. A room full of sfardim, I was one of the only ashkenazim there, and not a single one would admit to knowing how to dance sfardi style.
It was kind of hard to believe, so i kept looking. I found one 13 year old boy who knew a few moves. He agreed to show me a few sfardi dance moves and we got the mizrachi groove on. I made a fool of myself, but we all had fun.
I was wondering how it was possible that in a room full of sfardim I could hardly find one who knew the moves, and the one I did find only knew one basic shake.
I came up with two theories:
There was one point where they played mizrachi music for a while. My friend, the father of the bar mitzva boy, wanted me to dance sfardi style. unfortunately, I have no idea how. The little I knew from my yeshiva days has been long forgotten.
I said I would be happy to join in, but I need some instruction - I need someone else to show me a few moves and then I could jump around and make a fool of myself happily. So, I asked around, among all the sfardim, but everybody said they don't know how to dance sfardi style. A room full of sfardim, I was one of the only ashkenazim there, and not a single one would admit to knowing how to dance sfardi style.
It was kind of hard to believe, so i kept looking. I found one 13 year old boy who knew a few moves. He agreed to show me a few sfardi dance moves and we got the mizrachi groove on. I made a fool of myself, but we all had fun.
I was wondering how it was possible that in a room full of sfardim I could hardly find one who knew the moves, and the one I did find only knew one basic shake.
I came up with two theories:
- They really did know some sfardi dance styles, but don't like to admit it as they would look too sfardi. Sure, they daven sfardi (most of them), but to actually publicly display sfardi culture? Many prefer to look as ashkenaz as possible. Many send their kids to ashkenazy schools, some even change their names to sound more ahskenazy, etc. To dance sfardi style, even though the event is clearly sfardi style, might be too much of a burden for them ruining their whole image.
- Perhaps they really did not know sfardi dance. They have spent so long concentrating on integrating into ashkenazy society that they have not bee keeping up with their own heritage and culture. They knew all the ashkenazy dance moves, and that is why they did not know the sfardi ones.
- They knew how to dance sfardi style but were too shy to display them. Also possible.
Labels:
bar mitzvah,
culture
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Related Posts
I guess its like someone coming up to you in the middle of your party and saying go on then show us how jews dance ,its a bit insulting !
ReplyDeleteAs a longlife sefardi of decades old, I can tell you I have yet to witness a 'sefardi dance' - if you were the token ashki at an exclusive sefardi bash, it would be mind bogglingly inconceivale they would all then be "shy" to dance the only way they know - the reason they did not dance 'sefardi' is because there is no such thing - ignorance is clearly not bliss, ignorance only leads to one becoming an ignoramous.
ReplyDeleteinsulting? perhaps. I see that now how it can be seen that way. The singer started playing mizrachi music at their request. Nobody denied their is such a thing, they just said they dont remember. And I didnt instigate it - they were all talking about dancing and how they dont remember the dances... I said I would be happy to join in but I need someone to lead, and asked people if they would lead...
ReplyDeleteno such thing as sefardi dance? I remember form my yeshiva days, where there were lots of sefardim in yeshiva and I went to a lot fo sefardi weddings. Different eidot do definitely have traditional dances and dance steps that are unique to their heritage. Maybe your eida does not, but others do.
Rafi - most "yeshivishe" sephardim today look at the older generation doing sephardi dancing, like we affectionately think of the "old generation" with their schnapps and herring. The Sephardim have gone through hell in hareidi society during the last decades, and the majority of the younger generation know little of their roots, except the stories their grandparents told them.
ReplyDeleteAs for changing their names - who can blame them? When a very fine friend of mine had his kid rejected from a yeshiva because the name "wasn't good for marketing", what choice do these families have?
I understand them, and I know people as well who have changed their names for the sole purpose of getting their kids into schools. I am not going to tell anyone what to do or what is right for them, but you ask what else can they do - they can not be embarrassed about being sefardim and send to sefardi schools. Sefardi schools are easily on par with ashkenazy schools. The stigma of the sefardi school is not true anymore, and the only way they will break the stigma is by sending their kids and promoting it.
ReplyDeleteI believe in keeping a heritage. I have no problem if someone else doesnt want to - everyone does what is good for them. I think it is a shame that they are embarrassed of their roots - the sefardi roots are far more illustrious than the ashkenazy roots.
I am an old-fashioned guy. I like the ashkenazy old generation as well, with their herring and schnapps, and i think they have many "mailos" that we have wrongfully abandoned in our search for progress.
Rafi
ReplyDeleteNo such thing as Sfardi dance. Maybe you meant Yemenite?
The only thing though is that there is some hip swaying like belly dancing by some,but no specific dance.
Does this group of sefardim you are talking about generally wear hats and jackets?
ReplyDeleteIf yes, then they've probably been "Charedized" which is primarily Ashkenazi and over the generations are losing their Sefardi traditions (including dances if any). It's a bit of a pity as Sefardi tradition is quite old and is perhaps a little closer to what Judaism was thousands of years ago
But as with everything in life, things change as time marches on. Pretty much the only things that don't change are dead.
Mark
Mark - mostly, yes.
ReplyDeleteyes, change is the way of the world. But it is still nice to remember the past. Heck, they played mizrachi music, just didnt know how to dance to it.
And for everyone saying there is not any traditional sefardic/mizrachi dance style, do you really believe that in Morrocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq Libya, Tripoli, Portugal and many other Sefardic countries the Jews have danced for 2000 years exactly the way the jews of New York and London dance? They dont have any unique dance steps as part of their culture?
Who said there's no sephardi dance?
ReplyDeleteHere's what you do:
You lick a dollar bill (or 20-shekel bill, whatever) and stick it onto your forehead. Then, you put your hands up in the air, open half-way, and twist your hands back and forth while your legs are going around in a circle. At least, that's in my culture. Others have other dances.