has been the Yiddish dance instructor at KlezKamp since 1997, and has taught Yiddish dance workshops throughout the US, in Canada, and Europe. Steve is the only one of the handful of Yiddish dance instructors who comes with a dancer’s training. Born on Governor's Island and Bar Mitzvahed in the Bronx, Steve received his dance training in Manhattan with Alvin Ailey and Erick Hawkins, among others. Much of his career has been creating and performing Jewish dance; he has worked with choreographers Felix Fibich and Shula Kivel, and has performed the work of Fred Berk. He also choreographed a production for the Joseph Papp Yiddish Theater, and created a company of Bottle Dancers. He was a principal dancer and choreographer with the Israeli folkdance group Parparim and was assistant director of the annual Israel Folk Dance Festival. He currently works as dance leader and performer with Maxwell St. Klezmer Band in Chicago, and recently collaborated with Kapelye on a new cd of music especially for dancing, HOPKELE.
Steven delights in introducing people to the figures, steps and stylings of the dances that belong to Klezmer music. Steven Weintraub has often been called the “Pied Piper of Yiddish Dance”; his years of experience leading and researching Yiddish dance allow him to quickly weave dancers and music together in astonishing ways. Young and old, from all backgrounds, find it easy to share in the joy of Yiddish dancing.
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