No Bieber Fever Here!

By Julia Bendis
Published on December 9, 2010

Batsheva Dance Company reads between ‘Three’ dances

By Gaby Friedman
Published on November 2, 2006

Ohad Naharin, choreographer of Israel's Batsheva Dance Company credits a back injury with helping him develop a new language of dance.

Musical Journey in Time

By Avner Hofstein
Published on May 4, 2006

Ah the '60s. Those were the days when Geula, Aliza and Hedva would prance around in their khaki skirts in the Israeli military band -- they were the highlight in entertainment for the young and naive Israel.

Spectator - Sweet Music Amid Turmoil

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 20, 2005

Summing up her experience, Schramm observes, "If we look at the headlines, we see generalities. But when we look at one individual, we see more deeply.

Secular Fans Hip to Religious Rapper

By Kelly Hartog
Published on April 7, 2005

He's into rap, hip-hop, reggae -- and religion. He's not a Christian rocker; he's a Chasidic reggae/hip-hop musician.

Matisyahu is the artist formerly known as Mathew Miller -- until he found God, Lubavitch-style, almost five years ago.

Calendar

By Keren Engelberg
Published on March 31, 2005

Calendar

7 Days in the Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on October 21, 2004

7 Days In The Arts

Aroeste Gives New Life to Ladino Tunes

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 9, 2004

Purists were skeptical when Sarah Aroeste debuted her Ladino rock 'n' roll band back in 2001. Most artists singing in the fading Sephardic language were traditionalists, performing classical versions of songs dating to the Jews' expulsion from Spain in 1492.

But here was Aroeste, mixing rock and jazz with the flamenco and Middle Eastern-tinged music of her ancestors, singing those same lush romances accompanied by electric guitar as well as oud. And, the New York press noted, she was doing so while performing with a bare midriff and gyrating hips -- moves that led several publications to label her "The Jewish Shakira."

The Class of 2004 Ready to Journey On

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on June 10, 2004

It's graduation time and The Journal caught up with several high-achieving high school graduates from around the Southland. For many of these young leaders, Judaism will continue to play a role in their lives as they enter the world of college and beyond.

David Gamliel’s Weird Science

By Keren Engelberg
Published on January 8, 2004

It's a wintery Saturday night in Hollywood, and I am having one of those quintessential L.A. outings. Sitting in the dank, stonewalled basement of the landmark Magic Castle, I am watching psychokinetecist David Gamliel move objects with his mind. Our well-dressed group stares at the short, intense, balding, goateed Israeli as his hands hover over a pair of eyeglasses that sit on a green felt table. His hands begin to make slow circles in the air, and soon the glasses levitate and circle, mimicking his hands' movements. There is an audible sigh. He never touched the glasses -- we all watched.

Livin’ La

By Gaby Wenig
Published on December 18, 2003

Singer-songwriter Diex sees himself as an ambassador, a bridge between the unlikely worlds of the prayer filled synagogues and the groove-shaking beats of J Lo, Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin.

7 Days In Arts

Published on December 18, 2003

7 Days In The Arts

The Circuit

By Gaby Wenig
Published on October 30, 2003

The Circuit

Comedian Provides Laughs to Israel

By Gaby Wenig
Published on June 19, 2003

Avi Liberman likes to keep his jobs separate. A Sinai Akiba Academy teacher's assistant by day and a stand-up comedian by night, Liberman doesn't do arts and crafts on stage and doesn't tell jokes at school.

7 Days In Arts

Published on May 29, 2003

Linda Richman types be warned. The American Cinematheque's "Can't Stop the Musicals!! A Celebration of Hollywood Musicals of the 1970s and 1980s" presents the plotz-inducing Barbra Streisand Double Feature tonight.

Cantor Steven Puzarne of Breeyah.

By Gaby Wenig
Published on May 8, 2003

Carole Levine had been a member of Temple Israel of Hollywood for 28 years. During that time, she attended temple only during the High Holidays. Recently, Levine has started going to temple more often. As a flautist for The Chai Tones, a 10-piece temple band, Levine finds herself at the temple now at least once a month, playing jazzed-up versions of the regular synagogue melodies.

Maseng of Many Hats

By Ellen Jaffe-Gill
Published on June 6, 2002

Somebody must have perfected human cloning, because no way is Danny Maseng just one person.

When the singer-songwriter-guitarist-actor-poet-dramatist-lay rabbi-teacher-visionary, who will headline the Fund for Reform Judaism's annual fundraiser at Temple Isaiah in Rancho Park on June 13, isn't performing, he may be teaching the Zohar, leading a service at his New York congregation or dashing off a new setting for a passage in Jewish liturgy.

Or he might be working institutionally on innovations in Jewish arts, Jewish worship, Jewish music or Jewish camping.

The Music Men

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on February 14, 2002

Move over Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras.

The Three Jewish Tenors are coming to the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa next month, accompanied by the Pacific Symphony Orchestra.

Sweet Sixteen and Ready to Rise

By Orit Arfa
Published on November 29, 1999

Even though 16-year-old singer Liel Kolet was born on a kibbutz in northern Israel, she'd prefer to be called an international artist rather than an Israeli one. That largely explains why many of the younger generation of Israeli rock/pop buffs would know little about her. Nor is she routinely counted among the growing crop of Israeli pop princesses, such as Shiri Maimon, who also will be performing in Los Angeles later this month. She hasn't released an album in Hebrew for wide distribution, and her English songs don't get Israeli radio play.