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Trance-Forming the Nation

Joshua I. Schmidt

The Oxford Handbook of Jewishness and Dance March 18, 2022 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197519516.013.11 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Ethnography Peer reviewed
Population national-Orthodox Israeli youth
Key findings The chapter examines paradoxes in how national-Orthodox Israeli youth apply trance-dance events to assuage current-day needs and concerns, drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork. It situates this within Israel's role as a transnational epicenter of psychedelic trance-dance culture, whose parties have moved from avant-garde origins into diverse mainstream Israeli communities.

Abstract

Abstract Israel is a transnational epicenter for psychedelic trance-dance music and culture whose central activity involves attending festive dance parties. While initially avant-garde, currently idiosyncratic forms of trance-dance culture are found among diverse mainstream Israeli communities. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the chapter examines paradoxes in the way that national-Orthodox Israeli youth apply trance-dance events to assuage current-day needs and concerns.