In conversation: Alexandra Damiani

"On tour we had the audience singing along – at a dance show – with ‘Hallelujah' and ‘Marianne'… My heart just melted"

If you love Leonard Cohen and dance, here's an irresistible offering. Dance Me: Music by Leonard Cohen – presented by Ballets Jazz Montréal (based, as the name suggests, in Cohen’s home city) – sets the bard's rich and profound work to movement, video and more. The company has already toured the world and now it’s London’s turn to thrill to their glorious and moving interpretation, which was actually approved by the man himself when it was first conceived by then artistic director Louis Robitaille. In a revealing chat with Cohen devotee Judi Herman, Alexandra Damiani, current artistic director of BJM, spoke about the show, the ideas behind it and Damiani’s own career.

Dance Me: Music by Leonard Cohen runs Tuesday 7 – Saturday 11 & Tuesday 14 February. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu & Sat only), £33.75-£84.38. Sadler’s Wells, EC1R 4TN. sadlerswells.com

Read our five-star review of Dance Me on the JR blog.

In conversation: Alastair Falk

“It's a culmination of threads, if you’ll pardon the pun, through my life, which sitting around in Covid allowed me to pull together”

Tsitsit: The Jewish Fringe Festival, aptly named after the Jewish ritual fringes, launches this October throughout the UK and online. It promises a packed month of music, theatre, comedy and family entertainment celebrating “the diversity of Jewishness” and is the brainchild of Alastair Falk, a former head teacher and co-founder of Limmud. Judi Herman caught up with him to find out about this new festival that’s really got her excited; and Alastair tells her how he himself got the festival bug starting out with his own comedy show on the Edinburgh Fringe.

Tsitsit: The Jewish Fringe Festival runs Sunday 3 – Sunday 31 October. Times and prices vary. See it online and at various UK venues. tsitsitfringe.org

In conversation: Michael Etherton

"You see it up close and you see the emotional input the guys put in to get the sounds you hear"

With their live performances cancelled, members of Mosaic Voices (New West End Synagogue’s resident choir) have been working hard to continue to bring you their unique music. Released earlier during the pandemic are four music videos written and recorded at various stages of the lockdown, featuring Yiddish lullaby ‘Rozhinkes mit Mandlen’, an ‘Over the Rainbow' rendition of the hymn ‘Adon Olam’, a lively ‘Yism'chu’, and a musical setting of Psalm 23 ('The Lord is My Shepherd'). All pieces were either composed or arranged by Benjamin Till, composer in residence. Whether they are arranged for singing a capella or with instrumental accompaniment, they all have in common just a small ensemble of voices. The group's founder and musical director, Michael Etherton, spoke to JR's arts editor Judi Herman about the making of these beautiful, inspiring and life enhancing musical films.

English translation of the original Yiddish ‘Rozhinkes mit Mandlen’:
In the Temple,
In a corner of a room,
Sits the widowed daughter of Zion, alone.
She rocks her only son, Yidele, to sleep
With a sweet lullaby.
Ai-lu-lu

Under Yidele's cradle
Stands a small white goat.
The goat travelled to sell his wares
This will be Yidele's calling, too.
Trading in raisins and almonds.
Sleep, Yidele, sleep.

Since the interview, Mosaic Voices have released more videos, including 'Shomer Yisrael' ('Guardian of Israel'), 'Avinu Malkeinu' ('Our Father, Our King') and 'Feed the Birds', from Mary Poppins. All videos are available to watch on their YouTube channel.

In conversation: The Matzoh Boys

"The beauty of the simcha dance is everyone feels it, no matter what age you are"

London-based simcha band The Matzoh Boys have created a “virtual simcha dance“, so people in the community can still enjoy a dance to their favourite simcha tunes at home during lockdown. JR’s Arts Editor Judi Herman found herself on her feet dancing as soon as she clicked on the link to their wonderfully life-affirming video. So she got in touch with vocalist Jonny (pictured centre) and trumpeter Jake (pictured fourth from right) to talk about the band, their music, how they made their video “in the safety of their homes” and how they were doing in lockdown.

Be part of the on-screen joy!
With the virtual simcha dance video, The Matzoh Boys wanted to recreate the joyous feeling people get while dancing to uplifting music, so they have a special request: they’re asking people to share videos of them dancing on social media using the hashtag #MatzohBoysVirtualSimcha.

This is the first in a short series of podcasts about life-affirming music to enjoy at this time. To find out more about The Matzoh Boys, visit matzohboys.com.