Sonia Gollance

Today on Radiant Others, scholar and Yiddish dancer Sonia Gollance. Sonia is a scholar of Yiddish Studies and German-Jewish literature whose work focuses on dance, theatre, and gender. Her first book, It Could Lead to Dancing: Mixed-Sex Dancing and Jewish Modernity, was published by Stanford University Press in May 2021. It is a National Jewish Book Awards finalist and winner of a Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title. She’s also been a regular lecturer and dance leader at klezmer festivals all over.

We recorded this conversation in the fall to coincide with her book’s release in paperback last year. We talk about the themes and the research in her book, and how they relate to us as practitioners inside of the world that she is also researching. We talk a lot about how Yiddish dance and dancing by Yiddish speaking people was  a space for a lot of big ideas and experiences of Jews modernity to come crashing into each other in fascinating ways. We talk about what surprised Sonia in her research and she shares some that certainly surprised us! Needless to say, we’re excited for you to hear all about it and then go read her book.

Buy Sonia’s Book! 

Music in the episode:

Nukh Gavdul’e/Simchas Toyre from Dan Blacksberg’s album Radiant Others

Radiant Others is produced by Dan Blacksberg and Beila Ungar.
The Radiant Others podcast aims to be the internet’s central space for important conversations in Yiddish and Klezmer music. Please support our work on https://www.patreon.com/RadiantOthers