Martyrdom Tanzteater Poem by gershon hepner

Death of martyr,
tanzteater,
acting out
demise of doubt
at the stake.
Big mistake,
though God picked him,
for the victim.
Should have danced
away, enhanced
by life preserved,
and not unnerved
by being tested
and digested
as actor in
the greatest sin:
tanzteater
of the martyr.

Inspired by an abstract of a paper Paul Mandel is giving today in Rome at the Annual Meeting of the ISBL, pointing out that while Rabbi Aqiba is described as a martyr in the Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 61b) he is not described in this way in the Palestinian Talmud (Berakhot 9,5 and Sotah 5,5) . Mandel writes:
During the transmission of the story in later versions of the Talmud, martyrological and fantastical elements were added under the influence of a later Byzantine version, appearing in the work entitled Midrash ‘Aseret Harugei Malchut, as well as, perhaps, through later European models of martyrdom. A detailed literary and philological study of the versions of the tale demonstrates the evolution of motifs and literary models current in early rabbinic Palestinian and Babylonian cultures, and emphasizes the historical and heological influences peculiar to the later Byzantine and European cultural milieux.
Also inspired Daniel Wakin’s obituary of Pina Bausch in which he discussed her concept of tanzteater. Before rehearsing her dancers would ask them to act out their recollections, and create minidramas from their responses. 'I don't know where the beginning or end is, ' she said in an interview with the NYT last year. 'You have to digest. I don't know what will come out.'



7/1/09