freylekh (usa)

songlines magazine nominated freylekh as one of the 50 rhythms of the world
it certainly is a unique style originating in jewish and/or gypsy culture
but now apparantly well entrenched in the yiddish culture of the u s of a
a bit of research tells me that while freylekh is the dance
the music that accompanies it is known as klezmer
which is backed up by the text found in songlines magazine
if you have ever been to a jewish wedding or seen a film of one
then you'll recognise a freklekh (also spelt freilach)
when dancers with arms entwined form a ring or a line
and do exaggerated stomps on every down beat
freklekh is yiddish for 'merry' or 'happy' and the dance has a fast 4/4 beat
it's one of the exuberant staples of klezmer music
the magazine also recommended an outfit by the name of the klezmatics
i found a few videos of them on youtube
but they didn't exactly grab me
possibly because of a crossover with arlo guthrie music
which in itself may be ok but to my ears it was not something i wanted to remember
so further searching uncovered this outfit called metropolitan klezmer
performing a tune called wedding dance medley
looks like a pier possibly on the hudson river
so all the elements are there - klezmer, jewish, wedding, dance, america
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