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Cultural Diplomacy and Dance: Israel's Batsheva Dance Company
Badar, Allison
Badar, Allison
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2016
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2016-05-19
Abstract
Since Israel became an independent state in 1948, the country needed to foster a cultural identity and establish a greater scope of allies with countries outside of the Middle East. Using the United States as a model for dance as cultural diplomacy, the Israeli government has sponsored dance companies to travel abroad to foster more positive international relations. Dance provides an abstract but powerful force in disseminating cultural ideals to the rest of the world, so Israel identified and supported the Batsheva Dance Company on many international tours. However, the Batsheva dance company denies that any of its work carries political attributes. Using an embodied, multi-modal research approach, I explore whether or not the Batsheva Dance Company's dancing, Gaga Movement Language, can carry cultural and political influence. Dance is a cultural phenomenon, and thus the findings of this research point to the inherent politics and culture of movement within a dance style. Because of this Batsheva and Gaga Movement Language is not immune to the politics of the country, and is therefore a powerful force in both creating relationships abroad and disseminating true Israeli culture.
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Classical and Contemporary Dance