Dancing to Transgress: Palestinian Dancer Sahar Damoni's Politics of Pleasure

Abstract

As a woman Palestinian dancer and choreographer in Israel, Sahar Damoni performs within multiple contexts of cultural, gendered, and political oppression, employing her bodily art to challenge these structures, most poignantly through dances that express and evoke pleasure and sensual joy. Offering a detailed ethnography of three of Damoni's performances within one year in Israel/Palestine, I argue that an examination of her artistry provides unique insight into the intricate workings - and transgressions - of gender, ethnic, and national boundaries through the movement of the body in dance.