Performing Arts

Content type
Collection

Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari Wins Ophir Award for Best Actress for Leading Role in "Nadia "

September 20, 1987

Israeli writer, actor, director, and producer Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari consistently advocates for Mizrahi voices in her artistic pursuits. Through films and plays that often foreground Mizrahi women’s stories in Israel, she integrates her passions for art and advocacy to produce internationally acclaimed works about stories personal to her life.  

Birth of Actress Roxy Sternberg

April 20, 1989

British actress Roxy Sternberg is deeply connected to her Jewish roots. She began working as an actress in her youth, gaining traction and going on to star in major roles on screen. Her love for her Jewish community flourished at West London Synagogue, where she continues to teach when she is not filming for television, but she has faced some discrimination as a Jew of Color.  

Shulamit Izen

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Shulamit Izen on January 14, 2002, in Waltham, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Shulamit shares her journey of self-discovery as a lesbian, her exploration of different Jewish practices, her experiences in starting a GSA at her Jewish high school, and her activism in creating a supportive community for GLBTQ Jewish youth.

Helen Hirsch

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Betsy Friedman Abrams interviewed Helen Hirsch on August 8, 1997, in Falmouth, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Hirsch discusses her childhood in Boston, her father's involvement in founding a synagogue and tailoring business, her education, her work during the Great Depression, her participation in religious and community organizations, and her love for music and family.

Selma Finstein

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Betsy Friedman Abrams and Roberta Burstein interviewed Selma Gross Finstein on September 30, 1997, in Waltham, Massachusetts, as part of Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Finstein discusses growing up in a predominantly non-Jewish area, her involvement in Temple Israel, her education at Boston Teacher's College and teaching at the Boston Public Library, her second career at Brandeis, and the influential people in her life.

Louise Azose

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Louise Azose on April 18 and May 26, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. A Sephardic Jew from Turkey, Azose shares her immigration experience, family life, involvement in her synagogue, traditional cooking, cultural customs, the challenges of separation from her family, raising her children during World War II, the role of singing in her family, and her travels.

Victoria Marks

Victoria Marks (b. 1956) is an American dancer, choreographer, professor, and activist. Marks began dancing as a child and later expanded her career as the founder of Victoria Marks Performance Company and a professor at various conservatories around the world. She is also an advocate for mental health and accessibility, collaborating on films that investigate the effects of mental illness and founding the Dancing Disability Lab at UCLA in 2014.

Sandra Bernhard

Sandra Bernhard is an American actor, stand-up comedian, singer, memoirist, and talk show host. She has been a high-profile LGBTQ+ presence over a career that has spanned five decades. Bernhard’s work amalgamates the three perspectives that she has said define her: “the feminist, the social commentator, the Jewess.”

Bukharan Jewish dancer Malika Kalontarova is born

September 2, 1950

Renowned Bukharan dancer Malika Kalontarova was born on September 2, 1950, to a religious Bukharan Jewish family in Tajikistan. Her father urged her to pursue a career in hairdressing much like her other sisters. From the beginning, however, she insisted on dancing.  

Richard Perles

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Richard Perles on September 1, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Perles is a lawyer, musician, and active volunteer from Boston who now resides in New Orleans, serving on the board of a Jewish Day School, practicing law, playing music, and engaging in various charitable activities.

Deborah Markowitz

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandra Stillman Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Deborah Markowitz on July 12, 20005, in Montpelier, Vermont, as part of the Vermont Jewish Women's Oral History Project.  Markowitz explores her Ukrainian heritage, family history, the influence of music, her Jewish education, her commitment to Tikkun Olam, her role as Secretary of State in Vermont, and her efforts to improve civic engagement and support victims of domestic violence.

Susan Levitas

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Stuart Rockoff interviewed Susan Levitas on August 31, 2007, in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Levitas recounts her childhood, career as a folklorist, marriage, experience during Hurricane Katrina, loss of her work, support from the Atlanta Jewish community, and her involvement in a women's shelter.

Margaret Lazarus

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Margaret Lazarus on July 11, 2001, in Belmont, Massachusetts, for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Lazarus speaks about her upbringing in Queens, her activist parents, her perception of Judaism as a platform for questioning and civil rights, her career in documentary filmmaking, and her advocacy for women's issues and social justice.

Lonnie Zarum (Schaffer)

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Lonnie Zarum, formerly Schaffer, on August 30, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Zarum reflects on her experiences growing up in a modern Orthodox Jewish family in London, her move to New Orleans, surviving Hurricane Katrina, the challenges faced by her synagogue, and her personal growth and gratitude in the aftermath of the disaster.

Figurine of woman playing drum

From the Archive: Woman Playing Frame Drum

Deborah Dash Moore
Mimi Jessica Brown Wooten

The Posen Library shares a nearly 3000-year-old figurine of a woman playing a hand-drum.

Topics: Sculpture, Music, Bible
Film still with two women dancing with each other while a man, seated, watches

At 35, Dirty Dancing is More Than a Sexual Coming-of-Age Story

Sarah Jae Leiber

In a post-Roe world, what stands out is the story of a young woman’s moral transformation.

Vivienne Shub

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Vivienne Shub on September 4, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Shub talks about her family background, her parents' activism, her journey as an actress, founding Center Stage in Baltimore, her involvement in cultural and political movements, her love for Jewish and Yiddish culture, and reflections on various aspects of her life and career.

Aviva Kempner

Project
Washington D.C. Stories

Deborah Ross interviewed Aviva Kempner on February 13, 2001, in Washington, DC, as part of the Washington D.C. Stories Oral History Project. Kempner recounts how she came to be a filmmaker, and her connection to Judaism, to Israel, and to the greater Washington D.C. Jewish community.

Ben Jaffe

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Ben Jaffe on September 6, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina’s Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Jaffe talks about his upbringing in the French Quarter of New Orleans, his family's contribution to the revival of traditional jazz through Preservation Hall, his experiences during Hurricane Katrina, and his efforts to rebuild and preserve the city's music culture.

Phyllis Isaacson

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandra Stillman Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Phyllis Wolfson Isaacson on January 24, 2008, in Brattleboro, Vermont, as part of the DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project, Isaacson shares her family history, musical journey, experiences as a music teacher and conductor, and her involvement with Jewish communities, highlighting the challenges she faced as a woman in a male-dominated field.

Habiba Msika, Tunisian Actress and Singer, is Murdered

February 21, 1930

On February 21, 1930, Habiba Msika, a Tunisian actress and singer, was murdered. Often called the “first star of Tunis,” Msika rose to fame across the Maghreb and Middle East because of her beautiful voice and unique talent to entertain. Her life of luxury was brought to an untimely end by her murder by a jealous suitor.

Shira Haas becomes the first Israeli nominated for an Emmy Award for her lead role in “Unorthodox”

July 28, 2020

Israeli actress Shira Haas rose to international fame for her role as Esty in Unorthodox, a Netflix miniseries. On July 28, 2020, she became the first Israeli to be nominated for an Emmy Award for this role.

Meskie Shibru, the First Professional Ethiopian Actress in Israel, is Born

September 29, 1967

On September 29, 1967, Meskie Shibru was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After immigrating to Israel at eighteen to escape persecution, she became the country’s first professional Ethiopian actress.

Ester Rada Releases “Nanu Ney,” the First Amharic Song on Israeli Pop Radio

October 19, 2014

On October 19, 2014, Ester Rada, an Ethiopian-Israeli actress and singer-songwriter, released “Nanu Ney.” The song was a major success and became the first Amharic song played on Israeli pop radio. (Traditional Amharic songs were played on Amharic stations, whose audience was mostly older Ethiopian-Israelis.)

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