In this paper we will consider Jewish wedding dances in the theatrical situation on stage, rather than in their actual setting. Even in life there is an element of drama in weddings: some are comic, and many a tragedy begins with marriage. There can hardly be found two so dissimilar staged wedding dances as Sara Levi-Tanai's dance drama Yemenite Wedding (Tel Aviv, 1956) and Vakhtangov's Beggars' Dance in the second act of Habimah's drama The Dybbuk (Moscow, 1922). Nevertheless, the two works can be compared, revealing the basic problems to be solved by choreographers attempting to carry ethnic, traditional folk dance onto the theatrical stage without destroying its structure and ambience.

The study of Jewish wedding dances, as represented in this volume, is a new and exciting endeavor. There are untold riches of dance customs and wedding celebrations to be found among the Jewish peoples of the world. A better understanding of these customs will help illuminate the complex nature of Jewish dance traditions and the importance of dancing in Jewish social life.

This paper will discuss the wedding dances performed by the Jews of Eastern Europe. It is ironic that although the majority of Jews in North America are of East European heritage, this dance tradition is probably the one about which we know the least. The reasons for this are complicated, but one of the most important factors is that the dance tradition did not adapt very well to Jewish life in the New World, unlike, for example, food traditions. The foodways of East European Jewish culture have persisted voraciously in New World communities. In fact, in many parts of the country, Jewish foodways have had a profound influence on the culinary repertoire of non-Jewish America. In contrast, the dancing that was part of traditional Jewish social life in Eastern Europe has dwindled, surviving primarily in the Jewish wedding and other rites of passage.

The very first month my husband and I arrived in Israel in 1972, we were bussed from our language center, Ulpan Ben Yehuda in Netanya, some five hours to the northern border to Kibbutz Baram, along with our entire Hebrew class of newcomers, in order to see the daughter of our teacher get married. In true kibbutz fashion, there were several couples marrrying at once so there would be a manifold joy for the kibbutz and all the families involved and no doubt less strain on the kibbutz budget. The bus ride was so long that when we arrived and I saw the brides walking around outside on the green lawns in lovely white dresses, and the grooms in their casual opennecked white short-sleeved shirts, I was sure tht we had missed the entire event. After all, the food was all set out and everyone was milling around eating and greeting each other; only the music and dancing had not begun. Later I realized that the idea of a reception apparently was not relegated to the end of the ceremony. And I learned that buses sent to central places in the city to bring family and friends are a feature of bridging the literal distances between cityfolk and kibbutz life.