subsequent choreographies

Bergstein’s subsequent choreographies of folkdances attempted to integrate this perception of indigenous movements into Zionist wedding dances, as a reflection of Jewish traditions.29 Such individual choreographic experiments can be seen contribut- ing to a more politicized aesthetic through Zionist competitions and festivals. In the late 1930s, the Tel Aviv Municipality held a competition to identify the most authentic dances of “Israel.”30 First prize was awarded to Yardena Cohen, based on her studies of dabkeh in the indigenous rural communities of Palestine. In 1944, the first Dalya Fes- tival was held in Kibbutz Dalya, promoting the Orientalization of Zionist folk dance. Showcasing the folkdances of Zionist choreographers who drew their inspiration from rural indigenous dance forms (such as Yardena Cohen, Rivka Sturman, and Gurit Kad- man), more than 500 dancers performed in front of 25,000 spectators at the second Dalya Festival in 1947.31 Books published in North America promoting Zionist culture,

26. Ingber, “Shorashim.” 27. As cited in Ingber, “Shorashim,” pp. 18–19. 28. As cited in Ingber, “Shorashim,” p. 37. 29. Ingber, “Villified or Glorified.” 30. This was prior to the establishment of Israel as a nation, and refers to a Zionist ideal at the time

that the ancient land of Israel was being rebuilt in contemporary Palestine. 31. Ingber, “Shorashim.”

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such as Palestine Dances!32 and Dances of Palestine,33 provided step-by-step instruc- tions in dabkeh as a Jewish folk dance, alongside other dances such as the horah that were brought to Zionist communities in Palestine from Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. It is not without irony that no reference was given in these books to the recent sourcing of dabkeh from amongst the indigenous population of Palestine. The construction of Israel’s cultural roots in Palestine can thus appear to have relied upon a playing down of European influences on Jews in the Diaspora, along with a grow- ing denial of the cultural roots of the indigenous population in the same land.34 This cultural appropriation of dabkeh might also be seen as an integral part of the wider economic and political ethic of Zionism, which contended that European Jews had a right to repossess the various resources of the land of Israel.35