Dancing your Aliyah passage: An Anthropological Inquiry into the Acclimatisation and Integration of Turkish Jewish Immigrants in Israel

Abstract

ABSTRACT Anthropologists and sociologists explore dance as a political and cultural performance to express beliefs, ideologies and social ideas. This article examines the impact of Israeli folk dance on the socialisation and integration, of Jewish newcomers (Olim) from Turkey into contemporary Israeli society. Based on in-depth interviews, questionnaires, and spontaneous conversations, as well as auto-ethnographic writings, the article clarifies how, by dancing Israeli folk dance, and particularly through participation in the Israeli folk dance troupe, Olim manage diverse social interactions and cultural negotiations within Israeli society, construct their national identity and shed light on tensions and changes regarding homeland, immigration, and Jewish peoplehood. It argues that Israeli folk dance is an important channel in their process of Israelization. On the one hand, it connects them to Israeli culture and strengthens their Jewish pride; on the other, it clarifies the distinction between life in the diaspora and life in an ethno-national space, expressing otherness while encouraging them to bring their own traditions to an Israeli stage.