The first stop on SCoJeC's six-city Klezmatize tour was Dunoon, on a cold but clear Sunday afternoon, and we arrived, via train and ferry from Glasgow, with a suitcase of kosher food for the buffet. Fiona Frank, SCoJeC’s Projects and Outreach Worker – and the ceilidh caller – talked a little about the findings of our Scottish Government funded Being Jewish in Scotland project, and local people shared their experiences, before the musicians, Emma and John, introduced themselves and talked about the music we would be hearing – and dancing to.
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The band played some traditional Klezmer tunes, some traditional Scottish tunes, and some of Emma’s own compositions in the Klezmer style, including her own Queen Esthar Bulgar, and ‘Emma’s Nign’, and twenty people happily danced the afternoon away to horas, hongas, freylechs, turkishers, khosidls, and kolomeykes. "I had a fantastic time, I haven’t danced so much in years!" said one lady, and even two people with walking sticks couldn't resist joining in the last dance!
