An immersive event, peeling back layers of history that bring to light the vibrant world of Yiddish culture through dance, film and live music.

Join us for the premiere of Rachel Linsky’s newest dance film, inspired by the work and story of Mieczyslaw Weinberg. The premiere will be followed by community dancing for all to live music by the internationally acclaimed Klezmer band, Ezekiel's Wheels. 

Who was Weinberg? Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996) was a Jewish-Polish composer who grew up learning to play music with his father’s Yiddish theater group. At 20 years old, when the Nazis invaded, Weinberg fled to the Soviet Union and was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. He spent the rest of his life creating brilliant classical compositions with clear Jewish and Klezmer themes. With his music, Weinberg kept alive a whole world of the family and culture he had lost. Through the JArts & CJP Community Creative Fellowship, Rachel Linsky has been fusing contemporary dance with Yiddish dance as a way to honor Weinberg's legacy and celebrate the influences that he kept alive in his music. In addition to the film created through the fellowship, Rachel has been working this summer to share her research with students through ZACHOR's teen program. These students have worked collaboratively to create a dance film which will also premiere at this special event. 

This program was made possible through the generous support of our partners.

Rachel Linsky is a Boston-based contemporary dance artist. She holds a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography and a B.A in Arts Administration from Elon University where she graduated summa cum laude. She directs and choreographs ZACHOR, an ongoing series that seeks to preserve the words of WWII Holocaust survivors through dance. She has presented at venues throughout Boston including New England Conservatory, the Boston Center for the Arts and The Huntington Theater. Rachel is a 2022-23 JArts and CJP Community Creative Fellow, and a member of the 2023-24 Next Steps for Boston Dance cohort.

Internationally-acclaimed Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band brings passion, virtuosity, and contagious energy to every performance. The Wheels improvise with the intimacy of chamber music and the intensity of a rowdy dance band. Their engaging contemporary interpretation of Jewish music is irresistible to audiences ranging from elementary school students to the judges at the International Jewish Music Festival, who heralded them as “a true musical democracy.”

In partnership with:

---

Information on getting to The Vilna Shul [view map]