Leila: I attribute that to a couple of things. One is that the broader com- munity wants to see modern dance as something that’s “free.” Acknowl- edging how racism is foundational to modern dance—that it has been orien- talist and complicit in US exceptional- ism and state-building projects, as well as appropriative of Black and Indigenous dances—gets in the way of that logic. SIMA: I’d love people to understand the difference between facing appro- priating practices inside modern dance and appreciating how those practices can feel individually liberating. Dance writer Wendy Perron mentioned this in her Instagram comment on the clip of your speech. She wrote, “[W]hat I objected to in Leila’s lecture is that she seems to ignore the experience of Gra- ham technique and Gaga as art prac- tice and look at them ONLY as pawns in colonialism/imperialism. It’s possibly [sic] to be aware of both functions.” Leila: Does it help that I took Graham from age 6-18? Sima: Right. In my mind, there’s no rea- son we can’t face problematic histories within dance forms while also acknowl- edging and embracing the liberatory potential within an individual’s particu- lar dance experience. Leila: Plus, it’s a distraction from what’s important. This is a genocide. Dance was used to normalize Israel. And now it’s used to erase what Israel is doing.
Just days after October 7th, 2023, Leila Mire, a PhD student in the Department of Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies at UC Berkeley, delivered a talk on Zionism in mod- ern dance for Sima Belmar’s “Dance in American Cultures” class. After a brief clip was posted online, it went viral, sparking both enthusiastic support and harsh criticism. Now, nearly ten months into the genocide, Sima and Leila have come together to reflect on that conversation. In doing so, they explore the dance community’s aversion to the boy- cott of dance artists, analyzing what this reluctance says about how dance is depoliticized and exceptionalized in the context of Palestine.
A CONVERSATION BETWEEN LEILA MIRE AND SIMA BELMAR POWER DANCE AND SOFT
Sima Belmar: Looking back, I’m astonished you gave your talk mere days after October 7. Leila Mire: I was nervous about that. I thought you were going to ask me to censor it, but instead, you were like, “What kind of slides are we working with?” And I was like, oh… this is a tech question. Sima: It didn’t occur to me that giving that talk could be risky. Perhaps you can explain what your argument was about? Leila: I walked through how Israel and the United States use dance as a soft power. I looked at the history of modern dance in relation to Isra- el’s conception and normalization. I also examined case studies of Israeli dances and choreographers, address- ing the appropriation of Palestinian dance. I concluded by explaining BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) and how it might be applied in a dance context. Sima: After your talk was posted it was accused of misinformation, usually by folks who only heard a 30-second snippet on Instagram. Leila: Yeah, I’ve gotten used to that. Strangers presume I don’t know what
I’m talking about, as if this isn’t the culmination of my work and expe- riences. They also don’t know how thorough I am. I screenshot everything before facts are erased. I’m a junior scholar, and I make $34,000 a year, yet famous choreographers and senior scholars can’t wait to drag my name through the mud, claiming that I do this out of personal vendettas or for career mobility. I don’t care to engage with that narcissism. I have already lost multiple jobs because of my sup- port for Palestine. That’s not why I do this. I do this because it’s what’s right and because if I love dance, it’s my responsibility to criticize it. Sima: Well, certainly there is tre- mendous resistance to critiquing Israeli dance or choreographers like Ohad Naharin (and Batsheva), not only from Zionists (Jewish or other- wise) who equate anti-Israel rhet- oric with antisemitism, but also from dance folks across the US who feel like dance, especially modern dance, should never be criticized at all because of its perceived second class citizenship among the arts and its very real lack of funding here. So, many are loath to call out bad Israeli actors for fear of being perceived as antisemitic, or “bad choreographies” for fear of kicking an art form when it’s down.
Sima: Say more about soft power.
Leila: Soft power is around us all the time. The Cold War is just where the term became popularized. In the Cold War, modern dance’s supposed democ- racy and freedom were meant to jux- tapose the USSR’s ballet, which the US painted as being stiff, menacing, and oppressive. Dance became the arena for a geopolitical pissing contest.
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In Dance | May 2014 | dancersgroup.org
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