Dance in Israel
The art of dance in Israel, in all its variety, is related closely to social, political and economic perceptions. Since the beginning of the 20th century, dance in Israel has been used to both express Zionist ideology and in the ongoing effort to create a body of movement and choreographic structures identified with the ethos of the local Hebrew figure. In the early years of the twentieth century, this type of dance was performed alongside the local iteration of the Central European expressive dance movement, and later, beginning in the 1950s, with American and other international styles. Along with representing Jewish society in Israel, dance also represents unique and minority groups, whose styles of dance have many similarities as well as distinctions.
The archival documentation of dance is ostensibly the opposite of dance’s transient, physical and kinetic essence. However, it is in fact an integral part of the field’s development and transformation into a body of knowledge and key component in Israeli public cultural memory. The surprising number of dance archives in Israel includes personal archives of artists and key figures in the field, as well as archives of major institutions of Israeli dance, including companies and ensembles, schools, festivals and centers of dance.
The National Digital Collection of Dance Archives is the most comprehensive online source documenting the dance field in Israel. The archives themselves contain a range of documentary materials that include photographs, films, posters, programs, leaflets, teaching notebooks, production documents, costume sketches, scores for musical works, certificates and awards, newspaper clippings, professional documents and personal correspondence.
Discover the history of dance in Israel through rare photos, posters, performances and various materials from the NLI collections!
