"Mitzvah Tantz", named after the Hassidic wedding dance, is a video-dance developed through a personal form of movement. It juxtaposes oriental dance and Hassidic tradition to convey a cathartic moment, when womanhood reaches such powerful introspection that it verges on religious ecstasy.
Hassidism is a Jewish Ultra Orthodox movement which places the woman under many restrictions, including the obligation to dress modestly and (for a married woman) to wear a head covering or a wig to hide her own hair, and in some Hassidic traditions to shave her head completely. It is in total contrast to the oriental tradition where women entertain men through a form of dance that necessitates a bare belly and scant clothing, where the dancer feels most comfortable surrounded by a crowd of ravenous men.
The Mitzvah Tantz is the focal point of the Jewish Hassidic wedding. It is the moment when the bride is handed over from her father straight into the hands of her future husband, a man she has never touched and barely knows, to which she will sacrifice her virginity only hours later. Although the Mitzvah Tantz is considered a sacred moment, when the bride’s ancestors are believed to grace the congregation with their spiritual presence and extend their blessings to the bride, it is in fact the first time in her life that the young Hassidic woman is confronted with an audience of men, for women are forbidden to join the male congregation even in prayer.
Therefore although she is covered from head to toe, the Hassidic bride is as vulnerable and exposed as a belly-dancer amidst the circle of men. She can only sway in self-restraint to the chanting, just as my own pelvis locks itself in mid-dance, unable to contain both the desire for utter submission and my awkward self-consciousness.
Edry says, "For the making of this film I studied belly-dancing for a year. It is a dialogue, through dance, between two women from separate worlds – a gesture of complete recognition, not a protest. I call out to the Hassidic bride, whose only guard is her modesty, tense as she is in anticipation of the moment when she will unveil herself as a woman for the first time in her life.
Author: Noam Edry
Direction, sound, image, editing: Noam Edry
Principal actress-dancer: Noam Edry
Additional footage: The Beit Hatefusoth Film Archive
Additional dancers: Dorit Yeyni, Ofarim Dance Company, Arabesque Oriental Dance Centre.
ארכיוני המרכז הוקמו בתמיכת קרן אוסטרובסקי וארטיס
