Kol b’Isha/Voice Within Woman
An Alembic Co-Production
Jennifer Gwirtz & Company
LIvestream May 1, 2022 at 3pm

Kol b’Isha is a choreographic meditation on female voice, visibility and silence.

The term kol b’isha erva means “a woman’s voice equals her nakedness.” More commonly shortened to Kol Isha, this second century custom forbids Jewish women to sing in public. While this Kol Isha applies mainly to the most observant, its reverberations extend across many Jewish communities and through history.

Kol b’Isha/Voice Within Woman, conceived and directed by Jennifer Gwirtz, is a dance about the radical Jewish female sacred, a feminist rendering and re-owning of ancient lore, the very Jewish idea of Creation as a “drawing out” from the mysterious deep and how the silences and sounds of a woman’s voice establishes her presence. It is also an exploration of the voices of older women.

Performers: Jennifer Gwirtz, Janet Goulston, Leora Troper
Music: Eric Stern
Lighting design: Dora Gaskill

Followed by a post-performance panel discussion on the custom of Kol Isha and women’s voices featuring Rabbi Ariel Stone and other distinguished speakers.

This piece is made possible by Performance Works NW, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Jewish Women’s Giving Circle, Ronni Lacroute and Congregation Shir Tikvah.