Kleztronica Presents GOLEM: A Mythical Jewish Puppet Rave

Kleztronica Presents GOLEM: A Mythical Jewish Puppet Rave is an experimental dance party exploring Jewish mysticism and Yiddish culture through communal text study, music, and puppetry in Pittsburgh, PA at Spirit on July 27 2024. The event features local artists in collaboration with Kleztronica, a collective of artists blending Ashkenazi Jewish folk and liturgical music with house and techno. The event starts with a klezmer puppet parade led by Ozzy Gold-Shapiro and A.C. Weaver (Northampton, MA), two experts in Yiddish processional theater. During the procession, people and puppets alike were invited into interactive text and sound study with a demonology lecture by renowned scholar Nathaniel Berman (New York, NY). Two backpack puppets are designed by Cheryl Cappezuti (Pittsburgh, PA) and co-built with Jenny Romaine (New York, NY) with local volunteers. The rest of the puppets and masks are created by A.C. Weaver. Following the spectacle is a lecture by author Dade Lemanski (Pittsburgh, PA) and live performances by Yotzeret Sheydim (Pittsburgh, PA) and Chaia (New York, NY), two musicians at the forefront of Jewish noise and techno music. Eli Berman offers electric prayers weaving Jewish cantorial singing, Yiddish ballads, and vocal beats with drummer brother, Sam Berman, a fixture of Pittsburgh's punk and garage rock scenes. The night concludes with a dance set by Eli Berman aka DJ boichik.