By Eileen Wingard
LA JOLLA, California — The first night of Hanukkah, December 18, at 7 p.m., the Festival of Lights will be celebrated at the Garfield Theatre, Lawrence Family JCC by a performance of “Light,” by the LITVAKdancers, to original music composed by Yale Strom. He and his band, Hot Pstromi, will be accompanying the 35-minute presentation.
It will be followed by SHIMMERING LIGHTS, featuring Hot Pstromi and three outstanding out-of-town soloists, Israeli-born guitarist and oud player, Amos Hoffman; violist and country fiddler, David Wallace; and jazz violinist, Sara Caswell.
LITVAKdancers is a three-year-old North County company under the direction of Sadie Weinberg.
“Light” intends to portray a holiday story about community and identity. It was choreographed by Rebecca Margolick, Eyssa Dru Rosenberg, and the company’s director, Sadie Weinberg.
Educated at New York’s Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College and at UC Irvine, Weinberg is a veteran of local dance companies, Malashock, McCaleb and Jean Isaac. As a dance educator, she has taught at UCSD, SDSU, Cal State San Marcos, Mira Costa College, Palomar College, and at various high schools. She felt the need of bringing new dance voices to North County to engage and challenge diverse audiences. The name, Litvak, was selected because it belonged to her husband’s family when they immigrated from Eastern Europe (not because of its Yiddish definition: a Jew from Lithuania). Yale Strom and his band, Hot Pstromi, perform frequently throughout the county and at San Diego State University, where Strom currently teaches in the School of Music and Dance. Prior to this, Strom, one of the world’s leading ethnographer-artists of klezmer and Romani history and music, served as artist-in-residence in UCSD’s Jewish Studies Program.
Amos Hoffman, who studied at the Rubin Academy in Israel, was last heard in San Diego with Hot Pstromi and Israeli jazz pianist and music assistant professor at York University, Noam Lemish, with whom Hoffman continues to collaborate. Hoffman’s oud and guitar playing garnered great recognition in the New York jazz scene. He now resides in Columbia, South Carolina.
David Wallace taught at Juilliard for 14 years before coming to Berklee School of Music, where this violist and country fiddler heads the string department.
Sara Caswell is a Grammy-nominated jazz violinist, also on the faculty of the Berklee School of Music. She received her degrees from the University of Indiana and the Manhattan School of Music.
This double-billed program featuring such outstanding performers, is a first-night-of-Hanukkah treat not to be missed. Call the JCC ticket office to reserve your tickets: 858-362-1348.
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Eileen Wingard is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com