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Pony: The dance of censorship
3.9.2006
I was grossed out to read THIS article (via my sis) on a dance magazine's interesting editorial stance.
Stefanella got a political lecture when she went to pitch a magazine article on dance. She discovered that Dance Europe has an editorial policy that they will not publish any articles about Israeli dance troupes.
"He tells me that because of the occupation the magazine doesn't run stories on dance companies out of Israel. He also assures that he is in no way, shape or form racist because he's a Sikh from Northern India."
Allison K adds: The crowning touch: if you read the "About Us" section, check out how the magazine describes its editorial policy:
The editorial policy aims to provide an unbiased platform for dance throughout Europe and beyond, Many of the contributors are professional dancers or ex-dancers.
I am not going to get into a whole speil about Israel and Palestine. For the record, I think that the occupation should end, I am appalled by many policies of the Israeli goverment. And I don't want to play a game about naming other countries with far more destructive policies.
Because I also regard this whole mess as one consisting of human beings. Some are engaged in the dehumanizing rhetoric that fuels the conflict while others are trying to rise above their baggage and remind the world/each other of the human faces behind the word "enemy".
Many of those humanizing voices are artists, teachers, journalists - they are part of that hope for peace. They make us understand the beauty and complex lives that lie beyond the cliched belts of explosives and trigger-happy soldiers.
This dance magazine is not saying "we are unified by our art". They are saying: "i am british dancer, you are a Chinese dancer"...in drawing those lines, they are endorsing the very same bias they purport to despise.
As Kato said regardign this story: ' I get very scared when any organization wields their power to cut lines of communication."
Allison linked to this article on Roger Waters speaking to the Guardian re: pressure to cancel his trip:
"I have many fans in Israel, many of whom refuse to serve in the military. I won't cancel my trip to Israel because I don't agree with the government's policies, just as I won't stop performing in Britain simply because I disagree with the policies of Tony Blair.
"People who live in Israel [or insert any coutry here] are human beings, just like everyone."
Why shouldn't that be obvious to everyone?
