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Holocaust dance-distasteful or not?



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I think this dance routine is:
offensive and completely unacceptable  
 53%  [ 29 ]
in poor taste, but harmless  
 37%  [ 20 ]
an effective way to teach young people about the holocaust  
 9%  [ 5 ]
Total Votes : 54



yo'ma




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 12:46 pm
aish.com, holocaust dance
Quote:
The Distasteful Holocaust Ice Dance RoutineThe Distasteful Holocaust Ice Dance Routine
“Not one of the six million danced and a concentration camp is not a summer camp.”
by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller
Facebook345TwitterEmailMore48
Holocaust on Ice? Hard to believe, but that’s what was featured on the popular Russian reality show, “Ice Age,” featuring Olympic gold-medal skater Tatiana Navka and actor Andrew Burkovsjy who performed a dance in concentration-camp-style uniforms with yellow Jewish stars prominently pinned to their clothes. They smile at each other lovingly as they skate around the rink, dancing to the song “Beautiful That Way” (recorded by Israeli singer Achinoam “Noa” Nini) as the audience applauds. At the end of the routine, the man cheerfully waves goodbye and exits to the sound of machine guns.
It’s a grotesque inversion of the Holocaust, almost unbearable to watch. Yet this bizarre depiction of happy Jewish concentration camp victims is the latest cultural offering depicting the Holocaust, and affecting the way we collectively remember.
Ice skaters
“Definitely watch this! One of my favorite numbers!” the skater Tatiana Navka posted later on her Instagram account. The former Olympic ice dancer is married to Dmitry Peskov, a presidential spokesman. Apparently the ice dance was a way to educate people about the Holocaust today, Ms. Navka posted on social media. Russian news outlet RT explained the dance was meant to “celebrate human dignity and spirit”.


Many complained the routine was in poor taste. Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev spoke for many when she said, “Motifs from the Holocaust are not for parties, not for dance and not for reality (TV). Not one of the six million danced and a concentration camp is not a summer camp.”
The distasteful ice dance routine misinforms viewers and profoundly misrepresents the Holocaust.
Yet others praised the ice dance, explaining it’s a homage to the 1997 Italian film Life is Beautiful, in which parents pretend that the horrors of a concentration camp are only a game to their child. “Our children should know and remember this terrible time,” Tatiana Navka posted. Ilya Averbukh, the dance’s Jewish choreographer, agrees. “I have done a lot of routines on the war and Jewish themes,” he explained.
“I don’t understand such a reaction,” Andrei Burkovsky told Russia Today. “The negative hype around our performance is unjustified.”
The controversy echoed debates surrounding Life is Beautiful when it was first released. Many criticized the movie for not showing the horrors of the Holocaust; others praised it. Shlomo Venezia, a consultant on the movie who was interred in Auschwitz, explained at the time “The film as a whole works, particularly for the Italian mind… You could never show on film just what Auschwitz was really like.” Some even suggested using the movie as an educational tool, much as Ms. Navka has suggested about her ice dancing routine.


It is difficult to learn about the Holocaust. But there is no shortage of first-person accounts of what life was actually like for Jews in concentration camps that serve as excellent educational tools.
According to one 2014 poll, only 54% of people worldwide have ever heard of the Holocaust. Incredibly, nearly a third, 32%, of those who have heard of the Holocaust believe it’s been greatly exaggerated or is a myth. Ice dancer Tatiana Navka posted, “Our children need to know and remember that terrible time.” She’s right. But sadly, her distasteful ice dance routine misinforms viewers and profoundly misrepresents the Holocaust.


What do you think? The poll is taken from the site, aish.
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cinnabuns




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 12:57 pm
That's not the story of the dance at all!!! They know he's about to be shot. They hold their child's hand. Then lead him to the side and show him happy times for him to remember his father by. They skate with big fake smiles, trying to keep the smiles on their face. At the end, she starts to cry and stops to appear strong. He says a loving goodbye to his child, she picks him up and goes to the side, and he goes off to his death.
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bigsis144




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:10 pm
I'm somewhat uncomfortable and see both sides of the argument, I guess?

First, art (be it films, paintings or dance) is frequently used to address difficult and painful topics. Maybe I would prefer additional context? Like, not just a 2-minute piece stuck in between unrelated upbeat pieces in a competition. If a dance company had an entire Holocaust Memorial Day exhibition, I assume people wouldn't be crying "Appropriation! Disrespect!" Or if a feature-length film went in a more abstract, dreamlike direction and included musical numbers.

Second, it is a little strange to me to have "others" telling "our" story. Without a personal connection, it is a bit more -- not sure if this is quite the word I'm looking for -- exploitative? Like Oscar bait movies, everyone knows that a Holocaust-themed piece of work will win awards!

I have danced in at least 3 Holocaust-themed dances myself (wow, that line taken out of context would be strange), but those were all frum shows, with Jewish writers, directors, choreographers and dancers. One was based a story told first-hand to the writer/director herself, and had dialog around it for context.



ETA: I was in those dances as a teenager, and never thought twice about it. But looking back, I can see where the director was coming from without ever wanting to choreograph "a Holocast dance" myself once I'm in the position to be running the show rather than being told what to do.
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cinnabuns




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:37 pm
The choreographer is Jewish..

I can't say it's something that should be done to begin with, but now that it's danced and famous, it's not a bad thing. And if it is a controversial topic, maybe it will bring the Holocaust conversation back to those children who are now great-great- grandkids from that generation..
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Volunteer




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:39 pm
I think the actors in Life is Beautiful did a much better job portraying how they were straining to put on a mask to shield their child from the trauma that was going on. The ice dancers' acting wasn't nuanced enough to show what they were meaning to show. So while the concept isn't offensive to me, the execution sent the wrong message.
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sequoia




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:41 pm
Mel Brooks did it better, with just a trailer.
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Volunteer




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 2:01 pm
Two quotes that come to mind here are:

"Dance is the language of the soul of the body." Martha Graham. I totally disagree that some things should not be expressed in dance. Dance is a human art, and all things that are human can be danced. Dance is your soul speaking though the entire body. Dance can portray what words cannot.

BUT

"It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer." Shanna La Fleur. Just executing moves correctly in a technical sense isn't enough. Artistry comes in where technicality ends. Some topics are risky to dance because if the dancer fails to evoke the intended feelings in the audience, people get very offended. So while I appreciate that these ice dancers took a risk, it looks like it didn't pay off.
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Fox




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 2:24 pm
sequoia wrote:
Mel Brooks did it better, with just a trailer.


Thumbs Up

Brava -- perfect response in 8 words!
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lucky14




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 01 2016, 12:21 am
cinnabuns wrote:
That's not the story of the dance at all!!! They know he's about to be shot. They hold their child's hand. Then lead him to the side and show him happy times for him to remember his father by. They skate with big fake smiles, trying to keep the smiles on their face. At the end, she starts to cry and stops to appear strong. He says a loving goodbye to his child, she picks him up and goes to the side, and he goes off to his death.


OK I knew she was picking up a child at the end, but didn't realize that they were supposed to be holding hands with a child at the beginning or any of that other stuff. Makes me feel a lot differently about this now. I re watched it after reading what you wrote and it was really sad actually. The only thing that was annoying was the audience cheering for the dancers moves. Kind of felt inappropriate. Still unsure if this should have been part of a tv show competition, but I don't think the performance itself was "wrong".

Though I did not suffer the horrors of the Holocaust. If so (G-d forbid) I'd prob. be disgusted by this. So maybe I should be disgusted?
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 01 2016, 4:34 am
There needs to be a poll option for "I'm conflicted".

I can see everyone's point about this, and I think they're all equally valid.

Sometimes really good art* is really offensive. Art that makes you question everything, that stirs up emotions (whether good or bad), art that makes you wonder if it ever should have been produced at all - that's where dialogue comes in.

I like art that inspires conversation, conflict, and debate. A perfect twirl, a pretty painted landscape, singing the highest note - these things can often be easily forgotten.

Do I want ugly art hanging on my wall at home? No. Does it deserve to exist in public? Absolutely.


*by "art", I mean any form of medium, whether dance, painting, singing, or writing.
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yo'ma




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 01 2016, 7:42 am
sequoia wrote:
Mel Brooks did it better, with just a trailer.

Which movie?
FranticFrummie wrote:
There needs to be a poll option for "I'm conflicted".

I agree that there should be other options, but I posted what they had on aish.
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dee's mommy




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 01 2016, 12:57 pm
Having watched the routine, and also the film Life is Beautiful several years ago, I will say the following:

I think that all those involved in the ice dance meant well. I don't think they were successful at portraying what they wanted to portray, and that is why many are offended. (The cheering crowds don't help their case.) This may not have been the best venue to portray this.

One huge problem is that they are interacting with an invisible child. It just isn't mimed well enough for most of the viewers to pick up on this, therefore it was missed. Without picking up on that, the smiles seem inappropriate. Even though I picked up on it, this aspect was not carried out well throughout the routine, so it was so easy to forget that there was a child involved.

Another problem, is that it is based on the film, Life is Beautiful, and if you are not familiar with that film, then a lot is missed. Therefore, the routine does not succeed in it's best intentions, as it depends on the viewer seeing a certain (not recent) film.

When Life is Beautiful came out, there was also criticism that the Shoah was reduced to a comedy, and that the camp was not portrayed as horrific at all. However, from an artistic point of view, the whole story is being told by the child in the film, whose parents went out of their way to hide from their son the reality of those horrors, hence the portrayal in the film. I actually loved the film, and wasn't offended by it, because I recognized it for what it is: a fairy tale that was meant to portray first the courtship of the parents, and then as love story between parents and child. However, this is not meant to be an educational tool, nor should it.

A skating routine, was an artistic venture, though in my opinion, unsuccessful. I don't think it should be used as an educational tool.
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marina




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 01 2016, 1:00 pm
Not offensive at all. Fiddler on the Roof is a musical about a pogrom.
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