Silk Road

The number of people in the audience, and the fact that the event was in the large Sherover auditorium at the Jerusalem Theatre, surprised me. The event was billed as a lecture on and music of the Silk Road. The lecture was interesting. I learned that the term "silk road" dates from the start of the 19th century, that it refers to several different routes from Europe to and from China and from India to and from China, that traffic started during the early Roman Empire and the T'ang Dynasty, that the movement of ideas and culture was as important as the movement of silk and spices. The lecturer included more that added to knowledge I already have.

Then came the music -- enjoyable interesting stuff, but unfortunately not tied to the lecture. We got to China once, but mainly stayed near the Mediterranean. Perhaps I'll find out some day exactly how Chinese music influenced the music that influenced the music of Greece. Never mind. It's music I like.

Wonderful, graceful fiddler. Fantastic percussionist. I think the dancer was the same one we saw a while ago at the Mayer Institute for Islamic Art. No printed programme. No indication of names that I can find on the Jerusalem Theatre website.

Copyright 2016 Jane Fox