Felix Fibich and Torqueing as a Central Motif in Modern Male Subjectivity

Abstract

This chapter examines the life and art of Polish-born Jewish actor and dancer Felix Fibich as a rich example of the intersection of discourses about the Jewish body, movement, the emotions, and dance in the twentieth century. Fibich devoted his life to performing, analyzing, and preserving “Jewish movement,” which he believed was the direct reflection of a unique Jewish character. The chapter demonstrates how the specific image and enactment of the torqued, angular body, defined by twists and oppositional pulls in space, provides a powerful modernist mapping of Jewish male subjectivity that migrated from Eastern Europe to the United States, and also of the struggle for transcendence in the face of adversity. Frequently represented in popular culture in a simplistic and stereotyped manner, this richly conceived perspective of the dancing Jewish body provides important insights into shifting ideas about the relationship between Jewish souls, bodies, and emotions.