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Abstract

Characterized by the high mobility of dancers, choreographers and funds, as well as the valorization of individualities, contemporary dance productions often deal with the paradoxical tension between a global and deterritorialized, ideal ethos and the integration of local practices and identities in their choreographic material (Hardt 2011). Contemporary dance has therefore proved to be an interesting avenue to reflect on issues of social belonging’s construction and national and transnational imaginations (Andrieu 2014; Sieveking 2017). Within a context of growing interest for music and dance practices in migration studies (Martiniello, Puig & Gilles 2009; Aterianus-Owanga, Djebbari & Salzbrunn 2019), the current chapter explores how Palestinian contemporary dancers struggle when migrating to or touring in Europe. Building on the work of Butler and Athanasiou (2013) on recognition, the chapter focuses on the identities the dancers are assigned in their daily life and by their collaborative partners in Europe, such as choreographers and international organizations aiming to support Palestinian dancers in their carrier, and look into interpersonal and aesthetical strategies Palestinian artists develop in order to deal with and resist these identity assignations. The research methods employed are participant observation during creation processes in Europe and Palestine, as well as interviews with dancers, choreographers and programmers.