Dance Europe Backtracking
The Latest News || Thursday, 23 March, 2006
As news and condemnation spreads on Dance Europe's apparent policy of not featuring Israeli Dance Artists unless they openly disagree with their government over the Palestinian situation in the Middle East the magazine appears to be trying to repair the damage.
Ynet News, which is described on its about page as, "the English-language website from Yedioth Group, and a sister site to Ynet , Israel’s leading news web site", has sought opinion from Israeli choreographers and dance companies about their experiences with Dance Europe.
Quote;
"A year and a half ago Dan Rudolph, general manager of the Kibbutz Dance Company, was asked to publish a condemnation when he wanted to place an ad for dance auditions.
“I received a letter from the magazine that demanded a written declaration against the policy of occupation, and I got really angry. I called up Naresh Kaul, who had signed the letter, and I told him that our opinions of Israeli policy are none of their [business]. I am a leftist and I oppose the occupation and the separation fence, but I still don’t think my views are relevant for publication in a professional magazine.”
Mr Rudolph has gone so far as to demand the Israeli Foreign Ministry handle the matter as a diplomatic incident between the UK and Israel.
Tami Israeli, the Cultural Attache to the Embassy in London told Article19;
"This policy is a double cause for regret: The first cause is the building of barriers in an art form like contemporary dance, the abstract and stylised features of which are best endowed to build bridges. The second is that by taking art hostage to a political agenda, the magazine is depriving the European audience of some of the most bold, sophisticated stimulating work being done in the field of contemporary dance today."
Despite mounting evidence, Emma Manning, Dance Europe's editor, attempted to play down the unexpected attention the magazine has received and she has denied that Dance Europe has any such policy, citing a 'wide' range of pieces published on Israeli's over the years.
Indeed Inbal Pinto Company did publish a denouncement of the occupation and the building of the wall along with their audition notice in the magazine.
The audition notice was also carried on Article19 and and included the denouncement lines as Article19 believed this was something the company wanted to publicly state. Article19 was unaware that the political statement was a condition of publication within Dance Europe and illustrates how forcing groups to politicise their company can spread through the dance media, as limited as it is at present, simply by one publication making, what Article19 regards as, absurd demands.
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