ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Tunisian-American choreographer and visual artist Jonah Bokaer addresses Western cultural depictions of Middle Eastern artists and the absence of scholarship on the ever-evolving body of art from this area of the world. Based on his research, Bokaer provides a path toward a “missing syllabus” of Middle Eastern and North African dance studies. By outlining a personal awakening about his own Tunisian-American heritage, through extensive dance experience, travel, and creative reclamations of Middle Eastern cultural codes, Bokaer seeks to rescue “arabesque” from Western appropriation and to rebalance representation of dance to include Middle Eastern participation. He explores identity-driven dance while also chronicling American attitudes, language, and confusion regarding Middle Eastern cultures and geographies, especially since the historic impact of 9/11, the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, and the subsequent legacies of Arab Spring uprisings. His chapter highlights ambiguities between Western perceptions of Middle Eastern cultures as “other”—including lack of awareness, understanding, or even apt language—that further obscure historical perception surrounding the genre of arabesque. “About An Arabesque” also refers to an exhibition of the same title at Signs and Symbols Gallery, New York (March 2020).
