During the brief interwar period, a light
performance form known in Yiddish as "Kleynkusnt" (small art) emerged
among urbane Eastern European Jews, influenced by Polish and Russian literary
cabarets. Its combination of song, sketch, satire and social commentary was
performed by touring companies with colorful names like Balaganeden and Azazel.
At once audacious and rooted in Jewish culture, its contemporary mainstream
analog is the improv theatre stage of Chicago. Its Jewish heirs include the
New Budapest Orpheum Society, the Ensemble-in-Residence in the
Humanities Division at the University of Chicago, which performs this month's
Klezmer Brunch in cabaret style.
Sunday, May 5, 10a.m. at City Winery,
1200 W. Randolph, Chicago. $10 for concert only.
Fill the
Void, a new film being released by Sony Pictures
this month, is a drama about a Tel Aviv Orthodox Hassidic family.
Eighteen-year-old Shira, the youngest daughter of the family, is on the
precipice of an arranged marriage to an earnest young man of the same age and
background, and life seems full of love and promise. The plans stall when her
older sister Esther dies suddenly in childbirth, forcing the postponement of the
match. Complicating matters further is her brother-in-law, now a single parent,
and his plan to quickly remarry widow in Belgium. With her own mother trying to
keep her grandchild in the close-by, Shira must choose between love and family,
as she must decide whether or not to marry her own brother in law for the good
of her nephew or put her own personal feelings above her pity. The film is
written, directed, and produced by Rama Burshtein and is her
feature debut. A New York native, Burshtein came religious while studying film
and television in Jerusalem. Since graduating, she has used her worked to
promote film as a tool for self-expression in the sometimes insular and
media-phobic orthodox community.
On the subject of women behind the
camera, film, Israeli-born Chicago filmmaker Shuli Eshel has woven her own
filmography of documentaries into an autobiographical account
Passion for Dancing: The Story of Shulamith. Eshel's
rediscovery of her childhood interest in dancing, salsa dancing specifically, is
the jumping off-point for this "film of films' that takes the audience through
the filmmaker's personal journey of love, survival and activism in 36 minutes.
Premieres at 3p.m. after an introduction by the filmmaker at Instituto
Cervantes, 31 W Ohio St., Chicago, onSunday May 19. Tickets
are $5.
Speaking of Latin music, later that evening, head over to the
Old Town School of Folk music or a performance by Rafi Malkiel
and his quintet. The Israeli-born composer and trombonist has been circulating
in New York City's music circles for several years, where he has become well
known for his unique arrangements that bring together fusing Jazz standards,
Latin-American melodies and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The Rafi Malkiel Quintet
performs a free show at The Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave.,
Chicago on Sunday, May 19 at 7:00 PM.
As a current resident of
Skokie, I can attest to its present diversity and multicultural makeup, which
still includes a significant Jewish population. Thirty five years ago, however,
the Jews of Skokie, including significant numbers of Holocaust survivors, were
so prominent in the mix that the American Nazi Party targeted it for a march
with uniforms, flags and symbols reminiscent of its' WWII era German
counterpart. The vociferous civic debate and legal challenges that followed are
now etched into our community's collective memory. The Invasion of
Skokie, a 2010 play by Steven Peterson, revisits the tension and
drama of that moment through the lens of the Kaplan family. Father and
protagonist Morry is outraged at the affront the victims of the Holocaust on the
one hand, while his daughter's romance with a man outside the faith seems to
undermine it from within. Rachel Edwards Harvith directs and performances
are held at the Mayer Kaplan Jewish Community Center, 5050 Church, Skokie,
Wednesday, May 22 through June 23. Tickets are $10-28.
On a lighter
note, literally, Jewish songwriters, song leaders and musicians make their
annual pilgrimage to Olin-Sang Ruby Union Institute (OSRUI) for the annual
Hava Nashira Conference May 29 - June 1. Armed with guitars,
iPads and Shireinu books, several hundred attendees from across the world will
descend on Oconomowoc, Wisc. to celebrate contemporary Jewish liturgical music.
Participants will have an entire weekend of educational and participatory
sessions covering songwriting, leadership and presentation styles, as well as
workshops and intensives to learn new material and skills. If you teach, lead,
or like to sing music in any Jewish setting, this program, created by the late
Debbie Friedman and Cantor Jeff Klepper, is a great way to spend a weekend- the
music will go late into the night! Check out
osrui.urjcamps.org/yearround/programs/shabbat_shira/ for more
information.
Adam Davis is the founder and executive director of
KFAR Jewish Arts Center, a leading presenter and advocate of
contemporary Jewish arts, music, and culture programs in and around
Chicago.For future arts suggestions and feedback, e-mail Adam at adam@kfarcenter.org or call (773)
362-4760.
