A pack of dogs — dressed in tuxedos — descends upon the body of a murdered woman, the fallen-from-grace daughter of a former Jewish Las Vegas mobster.

While fitting for Hollywood, this scene isn't unfolding on the big screen. It is the dramatic opening of Jewish Bay Area choreographer Nina Haft's most recent modern dance piece where tzedakah comes in the form of dirty money.

"Mit a Bing, Mit a Boom! A Klezmer Dance" is scheduled to premiere as a costumed "open-rehearsal" in San Francisco on Saturday, April 30.

The piece, which Haft calls a "play dance," explores the unique experience of Jewish gangster life in 1950s Las Vegas through loose narration, explosive and playful movement, period costumes, vaudeville placards and modern klezmer.

Inspired by Haft's research into Jewish gangsters, the dance is told through a series of flashbacks into the life of the daughter character Susie — her unfortunate and dramatic fate revealed in the first scene.

The flashbacks travel back to her 12th-birthday party where a hustling and boisterous family throws a glamorous casino-style party. "Such a dress she gets for her birthday!" the audience hears Susie's bubbe say.

The flashbacks travel to the frantic and hectic wedding of Susie's parents — her proud father, whom Haft describes as having "machismo," and her elegant mother struggling to keep order in a family where the threat of violence and crime keep close by. The piece also travels through the mourning of Susie's father's death and the dangerous decisions in love and lust she makes in adulthood.

"The Jewish gangster stereotype defies the stereotype of the Jew in America," says Haft.

But that's not the only stereotype Haft is seeking to deconstruct. When she began working on the piece, she was intent upon telling the story through the experience of Jewish women caught up in the high-roller lifestyle.

"The topic of Jewish gangsters tends to be written about in terms of the male experience. It took me a long time to get a way in from a female point of view," she says.

Haft cast the piece with all female dancers playing both the male and female roles. They worked on breaking down what it feels like to move like a powerful man and like a gang of thugs.

"In a way, it is like being in drag," explains Haft. "Dancing as a female we're often trained to look delicate. It can be liberating to break those rules."

As for the female characters, Haft worked hard on creating real-to-life Jewish women who were having the extraordinary experience of living a criminal lifestyle.

"In Jewish families, women often run the family at home. They tend not to be docile and disenfranchised. They have more of a history of speaking up. It is a part of my heritage that I embrace."

The piece is set to klezmer music by Daniel Hoffman, a member of the S.F. Klezmer Experience and Davka. Haft is hoping to raise enough money for Hoffman to compose an original score for shows in the future.

"We're calling it a post-modern Yiddish operetta."




An open rehearsal of "Mit a Bing, Mit a Boom! A Klezmer Dance" takes place 6 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at the Margaret Jenkins Dance Lab, 301 8th St., #200, S.F. A moderated discussion will follow. Free. Seating is limited. Information: (415) 826-8399.