NYC Jewish-y Events, March 29 – April 10

Editor’s Picks: 

OHAD NAHARIN’S VENEZUELA
Batsheva choreographer Ohad Naharin’s “Venezuela,” from 2017, breaks from his usual method to explore the dialogue/conflict between movement and content. Created in two 40-minute sections, the new work’s opening part employs the formalistic language of ballroom dances. The same dance sequences repeat in the second part but with different music and the energy of Gaga, the movement language Naharin created. “While the physical movements are the same, there are striking subtle changes … [as the audience] notices what may have slipped by the first time around,” Israel’s Timeout Magazine observed. A New York premiere. — Through Saturday, March 30, BAM, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, bam.org.

REELABILITIES
The ReelAbilities film festival is the country’s largest festival dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. This year’s highlights include opening night’s “Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements,” three deeply personal portraits of a deaf boy growing up, his deaf grandfather growing old and Beethoven, in the year he wrote his iconic sonata (Tuesday, April 2, 7 p.m.); a Comedy Night, hosted by actor/comedian Danny Woodburn, where comedians with disabilities swap stories (Wednesday, April 3, 8 p.m.); and a screening of TV/web series that spotlight people with disabilities, including “On the Spectrum” and “Hot Flash,” followed by a talk with filmmakers (Sunday, April 7, 2:30 p.m.). — Tuesday, April 2-Tuesday, April 9, Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. (and other locations), reelabilities.org.

RELEASING WORDS

Deborah Ugoretz was already a working artist when she first encountered cut paper art at The Jewish Museum. Judaism hadn’t played a major role in her work, but this centuries-old art form revealed myriad new possibilities for visualizing heritage. A traditional form of Jewish folk art, paper cutting has often been used to reference Jewish lore, symbols and scripture. “Releasing Words: The Cut Paper Art of Deborah Ugoretz” is a retrospective  of her work, from traditional ketubot and pieces inspired by biblical texts to more recent work, which consider Jewish tradition as a springboard for contemporary concepts. Through Friday, April 12, Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge St., (212) 219-0302, eldridgestreet.org.

Theater

THE SINLESS
Told in an experimental style of monologue, duo-logue and fragment, “The Sinless” is a play about an Orthodox Jewish couple in crisis. When Tuvia, a rabbinical student, leaves for the weekend to go to his brother’s bachelor party, Annabelle, a ba’alat teshuva, embarks on a rebellious journey to indulge her deepest, unspoken desires. — Through Sunday, April 7, at various times, 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th St. ,(212) 780-0800, 14streety.org.

YIDDISH FIDDLER, OFF BROADWAY
“Fiddler” in Yiddish, the unexpected runaway hit that both delighted and choked up audiences at Museum of Jewish History, is now Off-Broadway. Directed by the acclaimed Joel Grey, a rich Yiddish translation by the late Shraga Friedman adds new depth to the iconic musical. With English and Russian supertitles. — Stage 42, 422 W. 42nd St., (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com

A JEWISH JOKE
In this new Off-Broadway “drama about comedy,” Bernie Lutz is a curmudgeonly Jewish comedy screenwriter from MGM who comes up against the Communist blacklist in 1950s Hollywood. He has to decide what’s more important — his friends or his livelihood. — Through Sunday, March 31, Lion Theatre @ Theatre Row, 410 W. 42nd St., telecharge.com.

Dance

ARIEL RIVKA DANCE AND GUESTS

 

Ariel Rivka Dance is a noted all-female modern dance company led by the Israeli-American couple of Ariel Grossman (choreographer) and David Homan (composer). To mark its 12th anniversary, the troupe’s gig here next week features two premieres, “Mossy” and “Rhapsody in K,” both with newly commissioned scores by Homan and Stefania de Kenessey. Various guest artists join the troupe. — Friday, 29, 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 30, 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., Baruch College, One Bernard Baruch Way (55 Lexington Ave. at 24th St.), (646) 312-1000, baruch.cuny.edu.

Film

WORKING WOMAN

Orna, a mother of three young children whose husband’s business is struggling, returns to the workplace to help support her family. She lands a job with a former army superior and soon experiences escalating sexual harassment from her boss. — Wednesday-Friday, March 27-29, 2 p.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., (646) 505-4444, jccmanhattan.org.

THE CITY WITHOUT JEWS
Jews are hounded by mobs and driven from Vienna in this 1924 expressionist film, based on the satirical novel by Hugo Bettauer. The sensational film that anticipated the Holocaust and cost Bettauer his life was rediscovered in 2015. With commentary by film scholar Noah Isenberg (University of Texas) and a live score. — Thursday, April 4, 6:30 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8301, cjh.org.

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS

In this moving documentary, identical triplets separated at birth reunite. But the feel-good story takes a darker turn that implicates a Jewish scientist and a Jewish adoption agency. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the two surviving triplets, David Kellman and Bobby Shafran, and director Tim Wardle, about the ethical tangle that shaped the triplets’ lives. Moderated by Alessandra Stanley. — Monday, April 8, 6:30-9 p.m., Streicker Center, 10 E. 66th St., (212) 507-9580, emanuelstreickernyc.org.

Music

HAZAMIR GALA
HaZamir is the international musical youth movement of choral chapters for Jewish teens in the U.S. and Israel. The HaZamir Annual Festival brings teens from chapters around the world for a weekend retreat, culminating in a gala concert at Lincoln Center. This year’s event honors Nurit Hirsh, an Israel Prize-winner and one of Israel’s most prolific songwriters. —  Sunday, March 31, 4 p.m., David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, lincolncenter.org.

RECOVERED MELODIES: EVENING OF MUSIC AND SCHOLARSHIP
Violinist and Auschwitz Jewish Center alum Alexandra Birch presents her latest works and research on recovered music from the Holocaust, gathered during her time as an Alexander Grass Memorial Fellow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. — Thursday, April 4, 7-8:30 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, mjhnyc.org. Free; advance registration recommended.

ISRAEL AND THE EUROVISION

Featuring Israeli singers Ariella Edvy and Omer Shaish, along with the MusicTalks Ensemble, this concert celebrates Israel’s participation in Europe’s prestigious song competition. Host Elad Kabilio highlights Israel’s past entries, including winning songs such as “Abanibi,” “Hallelujah” and “Toy” by Netta Barzilai, last year’s winner. — Wednesday, April 3, 7:30 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8301, cjh.org.

FLORA HORA: THE ART OF THE CYMBALOM
Featuring tsimblist Pete Rushefsky, klezmer violinist Zoe Aqua (Tsibele) and vocalist Madeline Solomon (The Solomon Sisters, a Yiddish Cabaret Duo), this concert explores the cymbalom, the East European hammered dulcimer. — Sunday, March 31, 7 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth St., Brooklyn, (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com.

ANDY STATMAN
In his regular monthly slot in Brooklyn, Statman, a force in the revival of klezmer and one of his generation’s premier mandolinists and clarinetists, plays his trademark blend of American roots music, prayerful chasidic music, klezmer and avant-garde jazz. — Wednesday, April 3, 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth St., Brooklyn, (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com

ANBESSA ORCHESTRA

Ethiopian pop/funk fuses American rock, soul, blues and jazz with the pentatonic scales and melismatic vocal delivery of Ethiopian music. Anbessa Orchestra, a seven-piece group of Israeli-American musicians, riffs off Ethiopian hits from the ’60s and ’70s, the so-called “Golden Age” of Ethiopian pop, spicing up the mix with Middle Eastern and Israeli influences. — Friday, April 5, 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth St., Brooklyn, (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com.

Talk

PRE-ELECTIONS IN ISRAEL: ELECTIONS 101
An overview of the upcoming Israeli election with Michal Aharoni, an adviser to Israeli politicians and a writer for Yisrael Hayom. — Tuesday, April 2, 7-8:30 p.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., jccmanhattan.org.

IMMIGRATION AND DISPLACEMENT IN ISRAELI ART
Israeli artist and curator Dina Yakerson explores diverse works by migrant artists that focus on the themes of migration and displacement, uncovering themes of identity politics and multiculturalism. — Monday, April 1, 6:30 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., 92y.org

Exhibitions

RENDERED VOID

In her first solo show here, Israeli-American artist Gabriela Vainsencher presents interdisciplinary works — including video, porcelain sculptures and photography — grounded in an exploration of the processes of forming a physical, biographical or political identity. — Through Sunday, April 14, 6-8 p.m., 155 Plymouth St , Brooklyn, (212) 255-6651, airgallery.org/exhibitions/rendered-void.

To publish events, submit them to jewishweekcalendar@gmail.com two weeks or more in advance. We cannot guarantee inclusion due to space limitations. Since scheduling changes may occur, we recommend contacting the venue before heading out to an event.