Sonia Gollance

@sgollance

Associate Prof. of Yiddish at UCL Hebrew & Jewish Studies. Book: It Could Lead to Dancing: Mixed-Sex Dancing and Jewish Modernity (Stanford UP). Working on Yiddish plays by women. Yiddish, German, dance, theatre, gender studies.

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Sonia Gollance@sgollance· May 19

The London Yiddish Shpilers has its first two performances next month! You can book now for the 'Yiddish Theatre Reboot'. 23 June @ The Courtyard Theatre 24 June @ JW3 @jw3london.bsky.social www.seetickets.com/event/yiddis... www.jw3.org.uk/whats-on/lon... @uclhjs.bsky.social

Poster saying: The London Yiddish Shpilers presents a Yiddish Theatre Reboot, with details for the show at the Courtyard Theatre

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· May 18

Thanks to the UCL Gender Equality Steering Group for supporting our Research on Jewish Women and Sexual/Gender Minorities Incubation Retreat at the Willesden Jewish Cemetery last week. This shy new friend was very intrigued by our research! @uclhjs.bsky.social @artshumsucl.bsky.social

Cat peering into window with cemetery in background

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· May 18

Thought some of you might like to see the cutest participants in a recent UCL research funding application development retreat for early– and mid–career researchers. Thanks to @artshumsucl.bsky.social and UCL Social & Historical Sciences for sponsoring. @uclhjs.bsky.social

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Apr 14

This #YomHShoah I went to the excellent “Eldercide: Older Jews and the Holocaust” exhibit @wienerlibrary.bsky.social (closing April 30). Below a caption about the sad fate of Hungarian Rabbi Immanuel Löw (1854-1944) whose grandfather, Rabbi Leopold Löw, I quoted regarding mixed dancing in my book.

Text labeled “A Rabbi’s Final Journey” about Rabbi Immanuel Löw (1854-1944) and his experience during the Holocaust, from the Eldercide exhibit.

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Mar 26

Grateful for the William Margulies Yiddish Library in the UCL Main Library and for all the ways @uclhjslibrary.bsky.social supports my research and @uclhjs.bsky.social teaching. Delighted to see this collection represented in the #UCL200 bicentennial library exhibition.

Display of books from the William Margulies Yiddish Library, including “Brilyanti” by Ester Kreytman. When the collection was started in 1989 there were less than 30 books.

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Mar 26

I'm delighted to announce that I've just signed a book contract with @syracuseup.bsky.social. My translation (with biographical introduction) "Miryeml: And Other Writings" by Tea Arciszewska (working title) is forthcoming in 2028. @uclhjs.bsky.social @artshumsucl.bsky.social

Screen shot of part of publication agreement with Syracuse University Press to translate "Miryeml and Other Writings" by Tea Arciszewska

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Feb 24

Today my students and I watched this wonderful clip of renowned Soviet Yiddish actor Solomon Mikhoels drinking a tea while savoring all possible gestures. It is delightful and they loved it. www.google.com/search?q=sol...

Black and white photo of a man in glasses and a cap about to drink tea from a saucer.

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Feb 12

"Dance lessons gave young people an opportunity to experiment with romantic sentiments... in a familiar and well-supervised environment." Learn more about changes in Jewish courtship on the dance floor––my book "It Could Lead to Dancing" is now on sale ($21 paperback for US/Canada orders).

Cover of "It Could Lead to Dancing: Mixed-Sex Dancing and Jewish Modernity" by Sonia Gollance

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Feb 4

Looking forward to tomorrow's 'Come Fill Your Dance Fill Your Dance Card'. Hosted by @uclhjslibrary.bsky.social, @uclhjs.bsky.social and the IJS. We're all booked up, but you can sign up for the waitlist (or let us know if you'd like a similar future event). www.tickettailor.com/events/uclin....

Come Fill Your Dance Card: A Celebration of Jewish Dances Cards in the Library Special Collections
5 February 2026 at 18:00

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Nov 26

My article, "Yentl and Teibele Onstage: Dramatic Adaptations of I. B. Singer’s Work for a 1970s American Audience," now out in the Studies in American Jewish Literature special issue on "THE MULTIPLE WORLDS OF ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER: NEW CRITICAL APPROACHES," co-edited by Jan Schwarz & Zehavit Stern.

Abstract: This article examines two English-language stage adaptations of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short stories: Singer and Leah Napolin’s "Yentl" (1974) and Singer and Eve Friedman’s "Teibele and Her Demon" (1979). These plays show how gender issues in Singer’s work were staged in the 1970s in the context of Second Wave feminism, prior to 21st century ideas of sexual consent. In both plays, love is used to explain or excuse the behavior of characters who deceive partners they claim to love. By considering these plays, we can better understand the changes that were made to achieve Singer’s goal of entertaining theater audiences.

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Nov 12

London music fans! Zoe Aqua (fiddler, USA) will be performing a solo set of klezmer and Transylvanian music with some special guests this Sunday 16 Nov at DB Music (in Stoke Newington). 2:30 pm doors, 3pm concert. £8. @klezmershack.bsky.social www.dbmusiclondon.com/product/zoe-...

Image of Zoe Aqua with fiddle, repeats information from post but adds that the post code for DB Music is N16 7PL.

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Nov 10

This December you can join me at Yiddish New York for my session "Dancing with Stories." We'll be doing two of my favorite things – close reading a literary dance scene (in translation) and learning the dance it describes–to the live accompaniment of the amazing Christina Crowder.

Poster for "Dancing with Stories" with Sonia Gollance. Hybrid session. Tickets on sale now! yiddishnewyork.com.

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Sep 9

Congratulations to the new @uclhjs.bsky.social BA graduates and to all of us for making it to @artshumsucl.bsky.social graduation despite the Tube strikes. (I’m also amazed that Marston Events sourced full @upenn.edu regalia from across the pond for my first graduation as academic staff.)

Smiling woman in maroon and black academic robe with black soft cap with gold tassle.

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Jun 25

Honored to be teaching @klezkanada.bsky.social this Summer, the 30th anniversary of the annual retreat! I’ll be giving several talks about my dance and theatre research from August 18-24 in Lantier, Quebec. klezkanada.org @uclhjs.bsky.social @artshumsucl.bsky.social

Image of Sonia Gollance with caption “Mixed Dancing and Jewish Modernity with Sonia Gollance”

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Apr 28

There are lots of ways to support @ingeveb.bsky.social. You could donate to their 10th anniversary fundraising campaign. You could also make yourself an extremely nerdy office reading nook for your imaginary second career as a Yiddish influencer. donorbox.org/tsen-yor ingeveb.org/blog/get-you...

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Mar 25

@lauraleibman.bsky.social’s “Once We Were Slaves” (@oxfordup.bsky.social) has arrived, in time for Passover.

Book entitled “Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family.”

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Feb 27

Honored to be speaking about my translation of Tea Arciszewska's Yiddish play "Miryeml" next Tuesday 4 March at the Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp. @uclhjs.bsky.social @biajs.bsky.social @yiddishbookcenter.bsky.social www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-...

Maurycy Minkowski painting of pogrom refugees leaving a burning shtetl, with a young woman in white in the center

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Feb 10

Thanks to @joannaraisbeck.bsky.social for locating the perfect picture of a dreamy Friedrich Schiller gazing into the middle distance for my Zoom talk at Wednesday's launch event for Polin 37. I'll be speaking about why and how East European Jews thought Schiller could teach them about love.

Portrait of Friedrich Schiller, with flowing golden locks, ruddy cheeks, and an intense stare, by Louis Ammy Blanc

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Dec 2

Tomorrow at noon I'll be speaking about my translation of Tea Arciszewska's "Miryeml" at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, lunch included). The talk is entitled "Mourning a Lost Future: Miryeml, a Yiddish Drama of Children in Wartime." jwst.sas.upenn.edu/events/2024/...

Event flyer for "Mourning a list future: Miryeml, a Yiddish Drama of Children in Wartime." Dec. 3, 12:00-1:30 PM, Cherpack Lounge, 543 WIlliams Hall.

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Sep 21

The paperback copies of my book “It Could Lead to Dancing: Mixed-Sex Dancing and Jewish Modernity” have arrived (and are looking gorgeous)! I’m delighted that my book will be more accessible to a broader audience. @stanfordpress.bsky.social sup.org/books/title/... pic.twitter.com/VFkL0X2FIQht...

Sonia Gollance holds up a copy of her book (which has a black and white cover showing two tango dancers). She stands next to a box with more copies of the book.

Box with copies of the book “It Could Lead to Dancing.”

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Sep 15

Yiddish Vinkel makes such beautiful Ukrainian Yiddish swag (including the wrapping). Check out her online store and send some sweetness to the Yiddishists in your life. @ingeveb.bsky.social linktr.ee/yiddishvinkl

Three postcards wishing a good, sweet, and blessed year and two packets with Ukrainian stickers.

Sonia Gollance@sgollance· Sep 12

Thrilled to receive my copy of “Women on the Yiddish Stage (ed. Alyssa Quint and Amanda Miryem-Khaye Seigel), with my article on Judith Berg, choreographer of the film The Dybbuk. In this article, I reconstruct her modern dance career in 1930s Warsaw. @zanykirz.bsky.social @joelberkowitz.bsky.social