The Joy of Jewish Music and Dance - April 2025 Session

Music & Dance Teachers:
Dror Sinai , Avi Sinai, Rachel Valfer, and Bruce Bierman

Dive into “The Joy of Jewish Music and Dance”! This delightful monthly series is perfect for musicians, dancers, and enthusiasts who are eager to connect and celebrate Judaism’s dynamic musical traditions. Bring your instruments, lace up your dancing shoes, and get ready for a whole lot of Jewish joy!
This month, we will explore Yeminite music and dance traditions.
Meet our guest teachers:
Dror Sinai is a percussionist and healing music expert. He is a pioneer in the fields of world percussion, Chi Gong, and the exploration of music as a therapeutic tool. Over the years Dror Has presented lectures, clinics, workshops, residencies to diverse audiences including universities, schools, community gatherings, and congregations. Dror played , performed and presented around the world solo and collaborated with other wonderful and famous Musicians and Bands including: Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Yair Dalal, Yuval Ron, Al Moalem Mahmoud Guinea.
Avraham (Avi) David Sinai, a percussionist, vocalist, and visual artist from Santa Cruz, California, combines traditional Arabic Yemeni Jewish chants with a contemporary flair. Learning these songs from his father Dror from the age of four, Avi creates a unique fusion of ancient and modern melodies, embodying the spirit of Yemen. He has performed with bands such as Zirzuvi and Phreeborn and the Phrequency. Avi and his father Dror performing regularly as a duo.
Rachel Valfer is a passionate singer and oud (Arabic lute) player who brings depth of feeling to every song. She studied Maqam and Persian dastgah modal systems in Israel and Palestine for six years at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and sings with several ensembles in the Bay Area. Gifted in the art of language, Rachel sings in Hebrew, Arabic, Farsi, Greek, Turkish, Ladino, and Armenian.
Bruce Bierman is a celebrated Jewish dance master , theater director and arts educator. He is co-artistic director of the award-winning Yiddish Theatre Ensemble in Berkeley where he has directed and choreographed ‘The Megilleh of Itzik Manger’ for the Berkeley Jewish Music Festival, Sholem Asch’s ‘God of Vengeance’ and most recently ‘Between Worlds’ starring Naomi Newman. He served as Yiddish dance and theater dramaturg for Paula Vogel’s Tony Award winning play, ‘Indecent’ at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage and the most recent production at the San Francisco Playhouse which YTE also co-produced. Bruce was also a lead dancer and teaching artist with the Los Angeles Aman Folk Ensemble bringing world music and dance to youth throughout the L.A. Unified School District.
Each session has three parts
During the first 90 minutes, participants can choose between two spaces to learn multi-ethnic music and dance technique and styles.
Participants will all come together for a 30 minute dance party focusing on the dances and tunes taught in the prior hour.
The remaining segment will be an informal music jam in one or more of the classroom spaces at the JCC.
Drop-in admission: $25.00-$54.00 sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds. Kids are free.
Music and Dance performance/teacher schedule
April 27, 2025 – Dror Sinai, Rachel Valfer, and Bruce Bierman
May 18, 2025 – to be announced
Sheet music and reference recordings as available will be posted to the KlezCalifornia tune archive.
Presented by The Jewish Community Center of the East Bay and co-presented by KlezCalifornia’s Yiddish Culture Fund.
Equal access to all
The JCC East Bay invites you to join us for this program. We welcome and support our diverse Jewish community, people of all religions, nationalities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, communities of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community. The JCC East Bay believes it is important for people of all abilities to feel welcome and included in our space. Our 100+ year old historic building does offer limitations, and cannot accommodate everyone in the way we would hope. Please let us know your specific needs so we can best make you feel included in our space. If you are experiencing financial hardship and are unable to afford the price of the ticket, please contact sarahwr@jcceastbay.org. We look forward to hearing from you to make your experience at the JCC East Bay a positive one.
Photography/Videography at the JCC East Bay
Please be aware that JCC East Bay will be taking photographs at this event and may use the photos in our marketing. If you do not want your image recorded for marketing purposes, please make your wishes known to the photographer, and/or the event organizers. By participating in this event, you consent to your voice, name, and/or likeness being used, without compensation, for use in any and all media.