About
Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Programs presents concerts, participatory dance, and music rooted in traditional cultures from around the world. The program specializes in live world and roots music, including African, Balkan, Brazilian, Cajun/Zydeco, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Reggae, and American roots music from Bluegrass to Swing. It offers nightly live music along with dance and movement classes, workshops, programs for children, and benefit shows.
• Ages: 0–18 years old
• Schedule: Box Office Hours Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00am–5:00pm
Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center has been Berkeley’s home for international music and dance since 1973 and is described as a 50-year-old music venue and dance hall. Its mission is to build community and understanding of the world’s cultures by presenting concerts and classes in participatory dance and music rooted in traditional cultures from around the world, and it is committed to supporting both established and emerging local, regional, national, and international artists in a respectful, comfortable, and family-friendly atmosphere. Ashkenaz is an internationally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit music and culture venue and a historic nonprofit music venue that puts on multiple shows each week representing a wide variety of genres that reflect and amplify its mission. As a nonprofit organization, it involves volunteers in building projects, marketing, greeting people at the door, and fundraising, and it provides the Bay Area community with a diverse range of international and Americana dance music and classes.
Community members and artists describe Ashkenaz as a cultural anchor, a place where dancing and music keep “lifeblood music flowing,” and “just plain fun.” One community member notes that people aged 16 to 60 can party together there “without trouble,” and another shares that they met their spouse at a Cajun dance and later got engaged on the dance floor. A performer and dance instructor describes it as a space for everyday people to come together, express themselves, and dance in a non-competitive and positive environment, and another artist and dance instructor calls it “a gem of a place” that is vital to the performing arts.
Last updated May 11, 2026.
• Ages: 0–18 years old
• Schedule: Box Office Hours Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00am–5:00pm
Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center has been Berkeley’s home for international music and dance since 1973 and is described as a 50-year-old music venue and dance hall. Its mission is to build community and understanding of the world’s cultures by presenting concerts and classes in participatory dance and music rooted in traditional cultures from around the world, and it is committed to supporting both established and emerging local, regional, national, and international artists in a respectful, comfortable, and family-friendly atmosphere. Ashkenaz is an internationally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit music and culture venue and a historic nonprofit music venue that puts on multiple shows each week representing a wide variety of genres that reflect and amplify its mission. As a nonprofit organization, it involves volunteers in building projects, marketing, greeting people at the door, and fundraising, and it provides the Bay Area community with a diverse range of international and Americana dance music and classes.
Community members and artists describe Ashkenaz as a cultural anchor, a place where dancing and music keep “lifeblood music flowing,” and “just plain fun.” One community member notes that people aged 16 to 60 can party together there “without trouble,” and another shares that they met their spouse at a Cajun dance and later got engaged on the dance floor. A performer and dance instructor describes it as a space for everyday people to come together, express themselves, and dance in a non-competitive and positive environment, and another artist and dance instructor calls it “a gem of a place” that is vital to the performing arts.
Last updated May 11, 2026.
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