Creatures of Dance:
LISTEN | WATCH | THINK
A Podcast on contemporary Dance in Israel - Dr. Yael (yali) Nativ and Iris Lana
שדה המחול הישראלי העכשווי הומה פעילות, הוא מורכב ויוצא דופן בהיקפו, רווי בהתייחסות להקשרים תרבותיים, היסטוריים, חברתיים ופוליטיים מקומיים, ובעל זיקות עמוקות למחול הבינלאומי. הפודקאסט מאיר תופעה ייחודית זו ומייצר שיח מושכל ומהנה לציבור הרחב.
Eiposde 5
This is the Middle East
Ethnicity and Local Jewish Mizrahi Folklore in Israeli Contemporary Dance
This episode explores the relationship between contemporary dance, Mizrahi identity, and Moroccan and Yemeni Jewish traditions in Israel. Through conversations with choreographers Orly Portal, Shira Eviatar, and others, the episode examines how the Mizrahi body has been presented, represented, and appropriated in the history of Israeli dance, from the days of Rina Nikova and Sara Levi-Tanai, to a reflexive re-positioning in contemporary choreographic work. The artists speak from a personal perspective, sharing their research, seeking new choreographic approaches to embodied knowledge that has long been marginalized. They draw from movement worlds and traditions such as Belly dance, wedding dances, Arabic music & singing, and moments of trance and ecstasy.
This episode addresses ethnic and class tensions in Israeli society from a feminist standpoint, offering insights into embodied postcolonial practices, situating folklore as a living material, and contemporary dance as a site of negotiation between exclusion and inclusion and between the political and the aesthetic.
With
Orly Portal choreographer & dancer, exploring folkloric movement
Shira Eviatar choreographer & dancer, exploring cultural embodiment
Dr. Dina Roginsky sociologist and anthropologist of historical and ethnographic research, wrote her dissertation on “Performing Israeliness: Nationalism, Ethnicity and Israeli Folk and Ethnic dance in Israel (2004)". A Senior Lecturer of Modern Hebrew language and culture in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University
Dr. Idit Suslik a lecturer at Seminar HaKibbutzim College in Tel Aviv and at the School of Visual Theatre in Jerusalem. In her research, she explores body and dance aesthetics and focuses on performance analysis in dance and theater from contemporary artistic and cultural perspectives. She is the founder and writer of the online platform The Contemporary Eye.
Regular Guest
Ran Brown Head of the dance program at Telma Yellin high school for the arts, independent dance researcher and dance critic for Haaretz newspaper
Yair Vardi founder and CEO of the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv (1987- 2020)
Transcription Guy Dolev / Translation from Hebrew Natalie Fainstein
This episode is narrated by Natalie Fainstein, Sara Holcman, Avia Spitzer, Yiftach Mizrahi, Nitzan Sitzer, Amanda Soroudi, Tamar Hannah Shtaierm and Ayala Shiftan
Music
Traditional melodies from “Yemenite Wedding” performed by Inbal Dance Theater. 1962.
Traditional melodies from “Yemenite Wedding” performed by Inbal Dance Theater. 1962.
“Apple” lyrics by Aharon Amir, music by Sara Levi Tanai, adapted by Ovadia Tuvia, performed by Inbal Dance Theatre. 1966.
“Adir Adirim” written by Uri Kaplan and Tamir Muskat, performed by Balkan Beat Box. 2005.
“Rising” choreography by Shira Eviatar, performed by Shira Eviatar and Anat Amrani. 2016.
“Eviatar/Said” choreography by Shira Eviatar, singing: Evyatar Said. 2017.
“While the Fireflies Disappear” choreography by Mor Shani, music by Itamar Gross. 2018.
“Hakawati” written and performed by Farzad Farhangi. From the Album “Exile”. Free Music Archive 2021.
“Mastika” written and performed by Farzad Farhangi. From the Album “Rubikon”. Free Music Archive 2021.
“Night Train to Baghdad” written and performed by Farzad Farhangi. From the Album “Sandstorm”. Free Music Archive 2021.
“Arabian״ written and performed by Serge Quadrado. From the Album “Islamic”. Free Music Archive 2021.
Links
“Monger” (2008) Barak Marshall (excerpt)
“Rabia” (2014) Orly Portal (trailer)
“Fakarouni” (2020) Orly Portal (trailer)