PORTLAND MOISHE HOUSE founder Jodi Berris and Mittleman Jewish Community Center Co-President Jordan Schnitzer dance with the diverse crowd that turned out for the two group’s Studio 54 intergenerational dance.
Funky dance draws diverse crowd
By Deborah Moon
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Studio 54—the out-of-the box, out-of-the-center intergenerational dance party sponsored by the Mittleman Jewish Community Center and Portland Jewish Events—drew more than 100 dancers for a festive party at the Fez Ballroom Feb. 28.
“We definitely drew a lot of people who wouldn’t necessarily come to a JCC event,” said Alysia Duckler, who with her sister Marridawn Duckler has been volunteering as the MJCC’s Cabinet of Culture to expand and enrich the center’s social and cultural programming.
To create a truly intergenerational event, the Duckler sisters teamed up with Portland Moishe House founder Jodi Berris and Lindsay Kohn.
Berris said she was very pleased with the response to the party.
“I get such a warm fuzzy feeling when I see kippahs on the dance floor. It’s not some wedding in Israel—it’s a party at the Fez, in downtown Portland,” she said. “It makes me so happy to see this result at a party I have my hand in. A diverse crowd of Jews, some wearing kippahs, some never having seen a kippah and wondering what type of 70s lid the knitted thing was on the guy’s head dancing next to the cage; it’s a chance where people all party together, on the same dance floor, where Jewish stereotypes and barriers disappear.”
The kosher spread was prepared by Meira Spivak who created thematic items including macaroni and cheese, smiley face cookies, fake “hash brownies,” Necco candy buttons and bite-sized egg salad sandwiches without crust.
“I think it opened the door for other ideas and different ways of engaging the JCC membership,” Duckler added. “That’s a lot of what the center is about—incorporating lots of different people and ages. There can be different things for different parts of the community. Some events can be outside the JCC for membership and the community.”
“Jodi is very exuberant so she’s totally irresistible,” said Duckler. “She’s a hard-worker and responsible and a young person too. … It was great to work with Jodi and Lindsay.”
Berris said that she enjoyed working with Alysia Duckler because she is “cool, fun, energetic, creative, event-detail oriented. She’s got an incredible eye and mind for a great party and it was so fun to plan this with her. My fingers are crossed that we’ll do a sequel event.”