The Modern Dance

The Modern Dance revolves around Berlin and Tel Aviv in 1929 and 1930, fateful years in the history of the 20th century, and in the history of Jewish artists in Europe and Israel. The book is written in a way that is reminiscent of the sampling technique in music: In each of the five chapters, Sapir uses the writing of a prominent author who was active during that dramatic time—Maurice Merleau-Ponty, David Vogel, Walter Benjamin, Alfred Doblin and Leah Goldberg—and writes in their styles stories that they did not write, but perhaps could have written. Linking the stories, like Ariadne’s thread, is the figure of the German-Jewish dancer Valeska Gert who choreographed solo works and collaborated with avantgarde artists.