Nicole Bindler
Nicole Bindler–dance-maker, Body-Mind Centering® practitioner, writer, and activist–has practiced contact improvisation for 25 years. Her work has been supported by numerous grants and fellowships, and presented on four continents. Recent projects include curating an evening of Palestinian dance films; somatic research on the embryology of the genitalia from a non-binary perspective; a workshop on neuroqueering embodiment; co-producing the Consent Culture in Contact Improvisation Symposium; and a solo dance, The Case for Invagination, in which her scars speak candidly about trauma and desire. Upcoming engagements include co-editing a book, Gathering Sparks: Jewish Arts and Somatics, and contributing essays to the 2024 issue of BMC Currents, and the Embryo Book Project. She organizes with Jewish Voice for Peace-Philadelphia.
Awarded Grants
2024
Window of Opportunity Grant (WOO)
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Overview
Nicole Bindler has been invited by World Refugee Day Chicago and Chicago Dancemakers Forum to give her lecture, “Embodied Palestine Solidarity” on May 1, 2024, alongside performances by Egyptian Bellydancer Phaedra Darwish and local Palestinian dancers from Al-Horiya Dabke. Nicole’s visit to Chicago from April 29th to May 3rd will include the presentation, as well as additional meetings and exchanges with the other participating artists. Nicole’s lecture uses an anti-Zionist lens to uncover the history of the formation of Palestinian and Israeli folk dances as representations of national identity. She will present video documentation of Palestinian and Israeli folk dances, plus the work of contemporary choreographers from the region, as well as discuss the unequal conditions under which these artists live and make their work.
The WOO Grant will help cover airfare from Philadelphia to Chicago, ground transportation costs in Chicago, as well as lodging, food, and other daily travel-related expenses.
2015
Art and Change Grant (ACG)
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Overview
Nicole will create a new dance with five women from Diyar Dance Theater, a folkloric dance company that seeks to humanize Palestinians by performing for Western audiences who may not know about the Palestinian struggle. Exploring gender inequity and how the Israeli occupation affects women in Palestine, Nicole will share her experiences as a guest choreographer, upon her return, at a public event at Temple University, co-sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine - Philadelphia and other related groups. The event will include video documentation of the dance creation process, a solo demonstration of some of the choreography, and discussion about the collaborative process.
