Folk dancing Books

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Book SynopsisThe history of dance theory has never been told. Writers in every age have theorized prescriptively, according to their own needs and ideals, and theorists themselves having continually asserted the lack of any pre-existing dance theory. Dance Theory: Source Readings from Two Millenia of Western Dance revives and reintegrates dance theory as a field of historical dance studies, presenting a coherent reading of the interaction of theory and practice during two millennia of dance history. In fifty-five selected readings with explanatory text, this book follows the various constructions of dance theories as they have morphed and evolved in time, from ancient Greece to the twenty-first century.Dance Theory is a collection of source readings that, commensurate with current teaching practice, foregrounds dance and performance theory in its presentation of western dance forms. Divided into nine chapters organized chronologically by historical era and predominant intellectual and artistic currTrade ReviewFrom Plato and Aristotle to postmodern dance, this well-edited anthology collects source readings on diverse theories on Western dance...this is a coherent record of thought about dance, providing not only theoretical ideas but a history of dance as well. Summing Up: Essential. Lower -- division undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers. * J. Fisher, CHOICE *Tilden Russell provides a fascinating and all-encompassing look at dance theory from the Greeks to the early 21st century through primary source readings, and brings the subject of dance history to vivid life. Dance Theory should be used as the basis of every university dance history course from here on out! * Thomas Baird, The Juilliard School and Purchase College, SUNY *Tilden Russell's book is for dance theory what Oliver Strunk's Source Readings was for music history, in 1950: the first comprehensive compilation of primary-source writings in its field in English. With his commentary on these judiciously selected and (where necessary) expertly translated texts, Russell traces the serpentine, and sometimes discontinuous, path of important thinking on dance over the centuries, going a long way toward providing the overarching history of dance theory that we still lack. * Bruce Alan Brown, University of Southern California *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Dance Theory as a Problem in Dance History Chapter 1. Dance Theory to ca. 1300 1.1. Plato 1.2. Aristotle 1.3. Plutarch 1.4. Lucian of Samosata 1.5. Johannes de Grocheio Chapter 2. The Renaissance 2.1. Domenico da Piacenza 2.2. Antonio Cornazano 2.3. Guglielmo Ebreo 2.4. Thoinot Arbeau 2.5. Fabritio Caroso Chapter 3. The Seventeenth Century 3.1. François De Lauze 3.2. Claude-François Menestrier Chapter 4. The Early Enlightenment: German and English Dance Theory, 1703-1721 4.1. Samuel Rudolph Behr 4.2. Johann Pasch 4.3. Gottfried Taubert 4.4. John Weaver Chapter 5. Dance Theory from Feuillet to the Encyclopédie 5.1. Giambatista Dufort 5.2. Bartholome Ferriol y Boxeraus 5.3 Pierre-Alexandre Hardouin 5.4. Louis de Cahusac Chapter 6. Divergent Paths: Noverre 6.1. Jean-Georges Noverre 6.2. Giovanni-Andrea Gallini 6.3. Johann George Sulzer 6.4. Gennaro Magri 6.5. Charles Compan Chapter 7. The Nineteenth Century and Fin de siècle: Practice Ascendent 7.1. Jean-Étienne Despréaux 7.2. Carlo Blasis 7.3. Arthur St. Léon 7.4. G. Léopold Adice 7.5. Friedrich Albert Zorn 7.6. Eugène Giraudet 7.7. Edmond Bourgeois Chapter 8. The Twentieth Century: Modernist Theory 8.1. Rudolf von Laban 8.2. Margaret N. H'Doubler 8.3. African American Dance Theory I 8.3a. Zora Neale Hurston, and 8.3b. Katherine Dunham 8.3c. Robert Farris Thompson 8.3d. Brenda Dixon Gottschild 8.4. Martha Graham 8.5a. Alwin Nikolais, and 8.5b. Murray Louis 8.6a. Flavia Pappacena, and 8.6b. Susanne Franco Chapter 9. Postmodern Dance Theory and Anti-Theory 9.1a. Merce Cunningham, and 9.1b,c. Yvonne Rainer 9.2. Susan Leigh Foster 9.3. André Lepecki and Jenn Joy 9.4. African American Dance Theory II 9.4a. Thomas F. DeFrantz, and 9.4b. Anita Gonzalez 9.4c. Halifu Osumare 9.4d. Nadine George-Graves 9.4e. Philipa Rothfield and Thomas F. DeFrantz 9.5a. Susan Leigh Foster, and 9.5b. P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) 9.6a. Kent De Spain, and 9.6b. Janet Lansdale 9.7. Gabriele Brandstetter Appendix: Table of Dance Periodization Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe dance circle (called the cypher) is a common signifier of breaking culture, known more for its spectacular moves than as a ritual practice with foundations in Africanist aesthetics. Yet those foundationsevident in expressive qualities like call and response, the aural kinesthetic, the imperative to be original, and moreare essential to cyphering''s enduring presence on the global stage. What can cyphers activate beyond the spectacle? What lessons do cyphers offer about moving through and navigating the social world? And what possibilities for the future do they animate? With an interdisciplinary reach and a riff on physics, author Imani Kai Johnson centers the voices of practitioners in a study of breaking events in cities across the US, Canada, and parts of Europe.Dark Matter in Breaking Cyphers: the Life of Africanist Aesthetics in Global Hip Hop draws on over a decade of research and provides a detailed look into the vitality of Africanist aesthetics and the epistemological possibilities of the ritual circle.Trade ReviewIn critically celebrating the immeasurable mass of hip-hop dance, Imani Kai Johnson significantly advances the thought and practice of Blackness as global field and global force. Dark Matter in Breaking Cyphers is a beautiful necessity. * Fred Moten, New York University *Professor Imani K. Johnson provides a ringside seat and exceedingly informed analysis in Dark Matter. Her writing is a Hip Hop 'show and prove' performance of meaning and pervasiveness, grounded in contemporary reiterations of Africanist aesthetics within global Black lives. * Yvonne Daniel, Smith College *Table of ContentsPreface: "Being There" Introduction: Dark Matter, Breaking Chapter 1. Dark Matter & Diaspora: Cyphers in an Africanist Context Chapter 2: Battling in the Bronx: Social Choreography & Outlaw Culture Chapter 3. Badass B-Girls Dancing the Dissonance of a Breaking Sociality Chapter 4. Dancing Global Hip Hop: Negotiating Difference & Tradition Acknowledgements Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFunny Moves: Dance Humor Politics explores the intersection of dance and humor and the political stakes that bodies incur when they dare to be both aestheticized and funny. The editors posit that funny moves are dance''s Other--the missteps or oversteps that don''t fit a particular dance form. Funniness in dance, whether gleeful, surprising, or odd, causes disruptions which may be progressive or conservative, inciting pleasures that counterbalance the artform''s often serious codes.Writing from Latin America, the Caribbean, South Asia, Europe, and the United States, the book''s ten authors provide diverse observational techniques and creative vocabularies for finding, analyzing, and theorizing funny moves across dance forms, dance scenes, and dance screens. Some of the authors find hope in the laughter of their artist subjects and their audiences, and some linger in the ambiguity and confusion so created. Each essay takes on a single surprise factor or a choreographic comic rupture, relishing in the amassed effects or affects across an absurdist cinematic, staged, or quotidian sequence. What is funny in each case pops up as a wildcard that evokes recognizable shared experiences, sometimes pushing back against dominant or mainstream logic and its supremacist laughter.

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Book SynopsisBased on eighteen months of intensive participant-observation, Ring of Liberation offers both an in-depth description of capoeira--a complex Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines feats of great strength and athleticism with music and poetry--and a pioneering synthetic approach to the analysis of complex cultural performance. Capoeira originated in early slave culture and is practiced widely today by urban Brazilians and others. At once game, sport, mock combat, and ritualized performance, it involves two players who dance and battle within a ring of musicians and singers. Stunning physical performances combine with music and poetry in a form as expressive in movement as it is in word. J. Lowell Lewis explores the convergence of form and content in capoeira. The many components and characteristics of this elaborate black art form--for example, competing genre frameworks and the necessary fusion of multiple modes of expression--demand, Lewis feels, to be given body as well as voice.In response, he uses Peircean semiotics and recent work in discourse and performance theory to map the connections between physical, musical, and linguistic play in capoeira and to reflect on the general relations between semiotic systems and the creation and recording of cultural meaning.

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Book SynopsisDuring the patron saint fiesta in the Andean town of San Jeronimo, Peru, crowds gather at sunset in the town square, eagerly awaiting the entrance of the colorful dance troupes, or comparsas. Offering a look at a tradition, this title is a compelling example of the anthropology of performance.

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Book SynopsisDuring the patron saint fiesta in the town of San Jeronimo, Peru, crowds gather at sunset awaiting the entrance of the colourful dance troupes, or comparsas. The comparsas have become a powerful way for the local people to make sense of their place in the world. This text looks at this tradition.

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Book SynopsisEmploys twenty-five years' worth of interviews with black and white Virginians, Tennesseeans, and Kentuckians to explore the evolution and social uses of dance practices in each region. This book reveals how African Americans and Native Americans, and European immigrants drawn to the timber mills and coal fields, added to local dance vocabularies.Trade ReviewWeatherford Award (Nonfiction), Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association, 2014. "While each of these six community profiles can stand on its own, together they reveal the diversity as well as the commonalities and continually evolving nature of the dance traditions in rural Appalachia. . . . Spalding's study, however, does more than simply describe the dance traditions of these communities. It reveals much about the broader history and culture of these rural Appalachian communities. I highly recommend Susan Spalding's Appalachian Dance, not only to those with an interest in traditional dance, but also to anyone with an interest in the traditional culture of Appalachia."--The Old-Time Herald"In Appalachian Dance: Creativity and Continuity in Six Communities, Susan Eike Spalding draws the reader into a sorely needed conversation about dance scholarship and Appalachian studies, fields that Spalding argues rarely speak to one another. . . . Appalachian Dance is a useful text, merging dance and Appalachian studies, highlighting cultural diversity, and providing a unique lens through which to understand Appalachian history."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society"Appalachian Dance is a well-researched and elegantly written academic work that will appeal to a broad audience of scholars as well as the general public. Spalding presents a complex picture of Appalachia through dance that productively complicates myths of isolation, poverty, and homogeneity often associated with this area. This is a compelling book."--Journal of Appalachian Studies "This is one of those rare scholarly works that is both readable and fascinating to read. For anyone interested in the history of folk dance in the twentieth century, this book is a must-read."--CDSS (Country Dance and Song Society) News"Spalding gives us a wealth of information, not only about the role of dance in six communities (in Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky) but also about how history, culture, geography, industrialization, urbanization, and even desegregation influenced its survival and/or revival. . . . Spalding's book is clearly organized and eminently readable."--The Journal of American History"Spalding provides an illuminating study of the social issues as well as the evolution of the dancing."--Western Folklore"Appalachian Dance is an important contribution to the field of folklore, dance studies, and Appalachian studies."--Journal of American Folklore"An exceptionally full account of the Appalachian communities in which dance plays a role. The historical documentation is thorough and the ethnographic work sensitively used to support Spalding's argument. Spalding has a lively writing style and demonstrates a warmth of engagement that is very appealing. Readers will learn a great deal about a region that is still widely misunderstood--and they will find themselves wanting to kick up their heels."--Erika Brady, author of A Spiral Way: How the Phonograph Changed Ethnography "Spalding's ability to portray the cultural diversity of various geographical areas within Appalachia and the differing dance traditions that emerged in those locations is outstanding. This book not only makes a major contribution to understanding the dance traditions of Appalachia, but it shows in turn what a study of dance traditions reveals about Appalachian communities."--Elizabeth Fine, author of Soulstepping: African American Step Shows

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Against a complicated history of Italian folk music and its recovery, Inserra provides an insightful account of tarantella in its home region of Campania and in its migration throughout and outside Italy, intertwining her fieldwork with existing scholarship." --Italian American Review"Gratifying to read. Makes a significant contribution--finally, in the English language, where few studies have been previously available--to the study of this rich, diverse, and globally relevant music phenomenon."--Luisa Del Giudice, coauthor of Performing Ecstasies: Music, Dance, and Ritual in the Mediterranean​"Enhances our understanding of southern Italian music and dance while also refining our general models of folklore revival. The book shows how musicians graft their performances onto ever-shifting contexts of reception among mobile Italian and international audiences. It richly demonstrates that local perspectives on musical tradition are every bit as tricky as global ones."--Dorothy Noyes, author of Humble Theory: Folklore's Grasp on Social Life"An invitation to appreciate the multiple outcomes of the recontextualized tarantella, Inserra's work explores new aesthetic and authorities related to this folk tradition. Global Tarantella is a rare publication in the English language that addresses this fascinating and complex cultural phenomenon of Southern Italy." --Journal of American Folklore

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Book SynopsisHighlighting the importance of song and dance rituals to Sephardic Jewish religious practicesTrade Review"Taking the study of embodied Torah in women's movement and dance in an exciting new direction, this compelling and sophisticated book is of special interest to students and scholars of Judaism, ritual studies, women's studies, and dance."--Barbara A. McGraw, coauthor of Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in the World Religions

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Book SynopsisA vital resource for historical and contemporary Caribbean dance practicesTrade ReviewA Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2013. "A masterful synthesis that connects the dots between the varied places, genres, and performers throughout the stunningly diverse cultures of the Caribbean. Daniel impressively draws on local experts as well as scholars from across the region, which leads to a strong, in-depth analysis of dances such as quadrille and rumba."--Halbert Barton, professor of anthropology, Long Island University"A stunning, career-capping synthesis of extended fieldwork. . . . Compelling at every turn, the book treats important figures in Caribbean dance and dance studies and provides extensive taxonomies of performance modes. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice "A singular achievement that provides a definitive reference of the richness of practices and the resilience and dilemmas that confront dance in the Caribbean. Daniel effectively blends a dance insider's command of formal corporal and musical dimensions with a keen eye for cultural, historical, and sociopolitical context."--Randy Martin, author of Socialist Ensembles: Theater and State in Cuba and NicaraguaTable of ContentsChapter 1: Chart 1: Caribbean/Diaspora Dance Typology; Chart 2: American Colonial Heritages and African Dance Chapter 2: Chart 3: Spanish Caribbean Dance Typology; Chart 4: French/Kreyol Caribbean Dance Typology; Chart 5: English/Creole Caribbean Dance Typology; Chart 6: Dutch Caribbean Dance Typology Chapter 3: Chart 7: Caribbean/Diaspora Social And Popular Dances; Chart 8: Revised Circum-Caribbean Quadrille Continuum; Chart 9: Revised Sarandunga Form Chapter 4: Chart 10: Caribbean National Dances; Chart 11: National Dance Formation in Cuba Chapter 5: Chart 12: Caribbean Popular Dances Chapter 6: Chart 13: Circum-Caribbean Parading; Chart 14: Conga Rhythm Chapter 7: Chart 15: Sacred Diaspora Ritual Forms; Chart 16: Continuum of Sacred and Social Dance Chapter 8: Chart 17: Circum-Caribbean Combat Practices Chapter 9: Chart 18: Tourist and Concert Dance Performance

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Book SynopsisEmploys twenty-five years' worth of rich interviews with black and white Virginians, Tennesseeans, and Kentuckians to explore the evolution and social uses of dance practices in each region.Trade ReviewWeatherford Award (Nonfiction), Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association, 2014. "While each of these six community profiles can stand on its own, together they reveal the diversity as well as the commonalities and continually evolving nature of the dance traditions in rural Appalachia. . . . Spalding's study, however, does more than simply describe the dance traditions of these communities. It reveals much about the broader history and culture of these rural Appalachian communities. I highly recommend Susan Spalding's Appalachian Dance, not only to those with an interest in traditional dance, but also to anyone with an interest in the traditional culture of Appalachia."--The Old-Time Herald"In Appalachian Dance: Creativity and Continuity in Six Communities, Susan Eike Spalding draws the reader into a sorely needed conversation about dance scholarship and Appalachian studies, fields that Spalding argues rarely speak to one another. . . . Appalachian Dance is a useful text, merging dance and Appalachian studies, highlighting cultural diversity, and providing a unique lens through which to understand Appalachian history."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society"Appalachian Dance is a well-researched and elegantly written academic work that will appeal to a broad audience of scholars as well as the general public. Spalding presents a complex picture of Appalachia through dance that productively complicates myths of isolation, poverty, and homogeneity often associated with this area. This is a compelling book."--Journal of Appalachian Studies "This is one of those rare scholarly works that is both readable and fascinating to read. For anyone interested in the history of folk dance in the twentieth century, this book is a must-read."--CDSS (Country Dance and Song Society) News"Spalding gives us a wealth of information, not only about the role of dance in six communities (in Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky) but also about how history, culture, geography, industrialization, urbanization, and even desegregation influenced its survival and/or revival. . . . Spalding's book is clearly organized and eminently readable."--The Journal of American History"Spalding provides an illuminating study of the social issues as well as the evolution of the dancing."--Western Folklore"Appalachian Dance is an important contribution to the field of folklore, dance studies, and Appalachian studies."--Journal of American Folklore"An exceptionally full account of the Appalachian communities in which dance plays a role. The historical documentation is thorough and the ethnographic work sensitively used to support Spalding's argument. Spalding has a lively writing style and demonstrates a warmth of engagement that is very appealing. Readers will learn a great deal about a region that is still widely misunderstood--and they will find themselves wanting to kick up their heels."--Erika Brady, author of A Spiral Way: How the Phonograph Changed Ethnography "Spalding's ability to portray the cultural diversity of various geographical areas within Appalachia and the differing dance traditions that emerged in those locations is outstanding. This book not only makes a major contribution to understanding the dance traditions of Appalachia, but it shows in turn what a study of dance traditions reveals about Appalachian communities."--Elizabeth Fine, author of Soulstepping: African American Step Shows

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Against a complicated history of Italian folk music and its recovery, Inserra provides an insightful account of tarantella in its home region of Campania and in its migration throughout and outside Italy, intertwining her fieldwork with existing scholarship." --Italian American Review "Gratifying to read. Makes a significant contribution--finally, in the English language, where few studies have been previously available--to the study of this rich, diverse, and globally relevant music phenomenon."--Luisa Del Giudice, coauthor of Performing Ecstasies: Music, Dance, and Ritual in the Mediterranean "Enhances our understanding of southern Italian music and dance while also refining our general models of folklore revival. The book shows how musicians graft their performances onto ever-shifting contexts of reception among mobile Italian and international audiences. It richly demonstrates that local perspectives on musical tradition are every bit as tricky as global ones."--Dorothy Noyes, author of Humble Theory: Folklore's Grasp on Social LifeTable of ContentsCoverTitleContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. A Brief History of the Tarantella Revival: Exploring Tarantella through the “Southern Question” Debate2. Exporting Southern Italian Festivals from South to North: The Post-1990s Tammurriata Revival3. Images of the Italian South within and beyond World Music: Eugenio Bennato’s Taranta Power Movement4. Tarantella for U.S., Italian American, and Cosmopolitan Markets: Alessandra Belloni’s Performance from New York City to HonoluluFinal ThoughtsNotesWorks CitedIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Comprehensive, rigorous, and accessible--qualities that don’t always coincide. This book tackles flamenco history, structure, and culture in a way that is professional and compassionate. Literature on flamenco often undiscerningly presents a jumble of facts, hypothesis, suppositions, stories, and legends; this work masterfully untangles these and even-handedly dissects several polemics. One of the most important contributions to the field.”--John Moore, flamenco guitaristTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Part I. History 1 Pre-Flamenco Music 2 The Café Cantante Period, 1860-1920s 3 From Stagnation to Revival Part II. Structure and Forms in Flamenco 4 Structure 5 The Flamenco Repertoire: Description and Analysis 6 Flamenco Lyrics Part III. Flamenco Culture 7 The Contemporary Scene 8 Perspectives on Flamenco Culture Glossary Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Styling Blackness in Chile, Juan Eduardo Wolf explores the multiple ways that Black individuals in Arica have performed music and dance to frame their Blackness in relationship to other groups of performers—a process he calls styling. Trade ReviewWolf's work is exemplary as he critically addresses twenty-first-century deliberations on identity and cultural diversity across the African diaspora. -- Yvonne Daniel, Smith College * Journal of American Folklore *Wolf 's text is a solid contribution to current narratives of self-determination and positioning of Chile's Afro-descendant population. The book highlights the achievements that music and dance represent for social and cultural processes in Chile, which makes it useful to understanding other Afro-American narratives across the Americas. -- Fernando Palacios Mateos * Ethnomusicology *The book itself will not only prove useful for academics interested in the music of Chile, Latin America, the African Diaspora, Blackness, and in semiotics, but is also written in a style that is accessible to upper-level undergraduates and above -- P. Judkins Wellington - City University of New York * Journal of Folklore Research *Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsAccessing Audiovisual MaterialsIntroduction: Of Stereotypes and StylingPart I: Styling Blackness as Afro-descendant1. The Disappearance of Blackness and the Emergence of Afro-descendants in Chile2. Tumbe Carnaval: Styling Afro-descendant3. Self-Understanding as Motivation for Styling Afro-descendantPart II: Other Ways of Styling BlacknessAn Interlude on the Importance of Styling Blackness and the African Diaspora4. Styling Blackness as Criollo: Dancing the Intimate5. Styling Moreno: Taking Pride in Decent Steps6. Styling Blackness as Indígena: Racial Order as Carnivalesque?7. A Question of Success: Carnivalization and the Future of StylingBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisIn Styling Blackness in Chile, Juan Eduardo Wolf explores the multiple ways that Black individuals in Arica have performed music and dance to frame their Blackness in relationship to other groups of performers—a process he calls styling. Trade ReviewWolf's work is exemplary as he critically addresses twenty-first-century deliberations on identity and cultural diversity across the African diaspora. -- Yvonne Daniel, Smith College * Journal of American Folklore *Wolf 's text is a solid contribution to current narratives of self-determination and positioning of Chile's Afro-descendant population. The book highlights the achievements that music and dance represent for social and cultural processes in Chile, which makes it useful to understanding other Afro-American narratives across the Americas. -- Fernando Palacios Mateos * Ethnomusicology *The book itself will not only prove useful for academics interested in the music of Chile, Latin America, the African Diaspora, Blackness, and in semiotics, but is also written in a style that is accessible to upper-level undergraduates and above -- P. Judkins Wellington - City University of New York * Journal of Folklore Research *Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsAccessing Audiovisual MaterialsIntroduction: Of Stereotypes and StylingPart I: Styling Blackness as Afro-descendant1. The Disappearance of Blackness and the Emergence of Afro-descendants in Chile2. Tumbe Carnaval: Styling Afro-descendant3. Self-Understanding as Motivation for Styling Afro-descendantPart II: Other Ways of Styling BlacknessAn Interlude on the Importance of Styling Blackness and the African Diaspora4. Styling Blackness as Criollo: Dancing the Intimate5. Styling Moreno: Taking Pride in Decent Steps6. Styling Blackness as Indígena: Racial Order as Carnivalesque?7. A Question of Success: Carnivalization and the Future of StylingBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This marvelous study of táncház dance is at once a social history of socialist and post-socialist Hungary, an ethnography of Hungarian folk culture, and a meditation on how culture can be galvanized as both a form of collective action and ethnonationalism. A lively and thought-provoking work."—Sujatha Fernandes, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life"Combining ethnographic and historical detail with theoretical rigour, Mary Taylor uses her exploration of the Hungarian táncház movement, stretching from the socialist to the postsocialist period, to uncover complex relations between cultural form and practice, collective memory, citizenship, and state formation. By offering a refreshing critique of the global 'heritage regime,' her analysis also reveals how 'local' cultural practices and traditions are shaped by global economic and political forces."—Emilia Barna, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream"Hungary is now an avant-garde case of 21st century neo-nationalist politics. Folk dance became one of its historical and contradictory venues, Mary Taylor explains, as she digs into the complex lived and danced history of the idea of the Magyar 'folk.'"—Don Kalb, University of Bergen, Norway, University of Bergen, Norway"Hungary's táncház movement, or folk dance revival, is an expression of nostalgia for the virtues of the agrarian past, a hotbed of ethnonationalism, a system for transmission of 'intangible cultural heritage' recognized by international organizations, and a social dance scene that can be an awful lot of fun. Taylor's meticulously researched book fleshes out the complex cultural and intellectual history for this movement, demonstrating through her fieldwork and documentary research how 21st-century folk dancing emerges from discourses and institutions that can be traced over 100 years, and how it participates in the maintenance and development of ideas of citizenship promoted by Hungary's populist politicians."—Lynn M. Hooker, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University"This empirically grounded and historically informed analysis of a revived folk dance practice introduces an innovative approach to studying the perplexing relation between nationalism, culture, neoliberalism and heritage politics in the socialist and post-socialist Hungary and the present-day European context."—Ioannis Manos, University of MacedoniaTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: The Aesthetic Nation1. Making the Nation-State in 19th and 20th Century Hungary2. What Kind of Nation? Folk National Cultivation in the Interwar Period3. Socialist Cultural Management, Civic Cultivation, and Associational Life in Late Socialism4. The Táncház Revolution: Reviving Folk Dance As Social Dance5. Folk Dance as Mother Tongue: National Conduct and The Production of Collective Memory6. Socialist State Formation, Táncház Frameworks of Sense, and the Origins of the Postsocialist Cultural Turn7. The Place of Heritagization: Culture Talk amid Shifting Property and Citizenship RegimesConclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This marvelous study of táncház dance is at once a social history of socialist and post-socialist Hungary, an ethnography of Hungarian folk culture, and a meditation on how culture can be galvanized as both a form of collective action and ethnonationalism. A lively and thought-provoking work."—Sujatha Fernandes, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life"Combining ethnographic and historical detail with theoretical rigour, Mary Taylor uses her exploration of the Hungarian táncház movement, stretching from the socialist to the postsocialist period, to uncover complex relations between cultural form and practice, collective memory, citizenship, and state formation. By offering a refreshing critique of the global 'heritage regime,' her analysis also reveals how 'local' cultural practices and traditions are shaped by global economic and political forces."—Emilia Barna, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream"Hungary is now an avant-garde case of 21st century neo-nationalist politics. Folk dance became one of its historical and contradictory venues, Mary Taylor explains, as she digs into the complex lived and danced history of the idea of the Magyar 'folk.'"—Don Kalb, University of Bergen, Norway, University of Bergen, Norway"Hungary's táncház movement, or folk dance revival, is an expression of nostalgia for the virtues of the agrarian past, a hotbed of ethnonationalism, a system for transmission of 'intangible cultural heritage' recognized by international organizations, and a social dance scene that can be an awful lot of fun. Taylor's meticulously researched book fleshes out the complex cultural and intellectual history for this movement, demonstrating through her fieldwork and documentary research how 21st-century folk dancing emerges from discourses and institutions that can be traced over 100 years, and how it participates in the maintenance and development of ideas of citizenship promoted by Hungary's populist politicians."—Lynn M. Hooker, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University"This empirically grounded and historically informed analysis of a revived folk dance practice introduces an innovative approach to studying the perplexing relation between nationalism, culture, neoliberalism and heritage politics in the socialist and post-socialist Hungary and the present-day European context."—Ioannis Manos, University of MacedoniaTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: The Aesthetic Nation1. Making the Nation-State in 19th and 20th Century Hungary2. What Kind of Nation? Folk National Cultivation in the Interwar Period3. Socialist Cultural Management, Civic Cultivation, and Associational Life in Late Socialism4. The Táncház Revolution: Reviving Folk Dance As Social Dance5. Folk Dance as Mother Tongue: National Conduct and The Production of Collective Memory6. Socialist State Formation, Táncház Frameworks of Sense, and the Origins of the Postsocialist Cultural Turn7. The Place of Heritagization: Culture Talk amid Shifting Property and Citizenship RegimesConclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisWeaving together personal narrative, ethnographic analysis, and philosophical reflection, Joseph Grim Feinberg examines the aspirations and difficulties of young folk dance devotees as they recognise that authenticity is more easily prized than achieved.

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Book SynopsisTraditional folk tales from all over Britain in which song or dance shapes the action

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Book SynopsisThe first book to illuminate how collaborations between dancers and painters shaped Mexico’s postrevolutionary cultural identity. K. Mitchell Snow traces this relationship throughout nearly half a century of developments in Mexican dance.Trade Review“A deep dive into the dance and visual art worlds of Mexico from the 1920s through the 1960s.”—Dance TeacherSnow’s thorough research is evident.”—Choice“Provides fresh perspectives on postrevolutionary Mexican culture. . . . A useful jumping-off point for future discussions of race, gender, and choreography in Mexico. . . . An accessible, interdisciplinary contribution to several fields.”—Hispanic American Historical Review“A generous invitation to further inquiry. Every chapter signals a wealth of conceptual and aesthetic questions that have yet to be plumbed. . . . A Revolution in Movement gives voice to the artists, performers, and cultural ambassadors who have long been stewards of Mexican modernity but who, until now, have been obscured behind the curtain.”—Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture

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Book SynopsisA vivid and intricate study of dance music traditions that reveals the many contradictions of Syrian identity in the 21st century Dabke, one of Syria''s most beloved dance music traditions, is at the center of the country''s war and the social tensions that preceded conflict. Drawing on almost two decades of ethnographic, archival, and digital research, Shayna M. Silverstein shows how dabke dance music embodies the fraught dynamics of gender, class, ethnicity, and nationhood in an authoritarian state. The book situates dabke politically, economically, and historically in a broader account of expressive culture in Syria''s recent (and ongoing) turmoil. Silverstein shows how people imagine the Syrian nation through dabke, how the state has coopted it, how performances of masculinity revealand play withthe tensions and complexities of the broader social imaginary, how forces opposed to the state have used it resistively, and how migrants and refugees have reimagined it in their new homes in Europe and the United States. She offers deeply thoughtful reflections on the ethnographer''s ethical and political dilemmas on fieldwork in an authoritarian state. Silverstein''s study ultimately questions the limits of authoritarian power, considering the pleasure and play intrinsic to dabke circles as evidence for how performance cultures sustain social life and solidify group bonds while reproducing the societal divides endemic to Syrian authoritarianism.

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Book SynopsisFollow the story of one of America''s most unique immigrant communities! The Isleños of Louisiana, Spanish Canary Islanders who immigrated to Louisiana in the late 18th century, are one of the most unique ethnic groups in the American South. They are one of the best preserved immigrant cultures in the United States, having safeguarded their traditions into the 21st century. A key to this cultural preservation was the dance halls. Sustained into modern day by weekly dances in nightclubs and across St. Bernard Parish, this rich history is dying out as younger members of the community fail to pick up its traditions. Follow the history of the Isleños through their immigration to the 20th century Dance Hall Era that has become their legacy.

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of English Country Dance, from its 18th century roots in the English cities and countryside, to its transatlantic leap to the U.S. in the 20th century, told by not only a renowned historian but also a folk dancer, who has both immersed himself in the rich history of the folk tradition and rehearsed its steps.In City Folk, Daniel J. Walkowitz argues that the history of country and folk dancing in America is deeply intermeshed with that of political liberalism and the old left.' He situates folk dancing within surprisingly diverse contexts, from progressive era reform, and playground and school movements, to the changes in consumer culture, and the project of a modernizing, cosmopolitan middle class society.Tracing the spread of folk dancing, with particular emphases on English Country Dance, International Folk Dance, and Contra, Walkowitz connects the history of folk dance to social and international political influences in America. Through archival reseTrade ReviewCity Folk brings matters of class, nation, and whiteness front and center, reframing the kinds of questions that can be fairly asked of English Country Dancing in the twentieth-century U.S. and Britain. Turning a keen eye on urban cohorts who embraced this dancing, Walkowitz provides a model for joining consideration of things political with things culturalspecifically with practices of the bodyand for doing so across disciplinary divides. -- Linda J. Tomko,University of California, RiversideRichly informative, conceptually exciting, and strikingly original. Walkowitz narrates the stories of compelling characters in the history of English Country Dance, particularly Cecil Sharp and the various figures, mostly women, with whom he dances through the complexities of organizing a movement in two countries. Walkowitz follows this story up to the present, combining analytic, ethnographic, and autobiographical reflections on the recent and contemporary folk dance scene. His authorial stance permits him to engage major questions about modern society, the middle class, and the role culture and cultures play in how people negotiate structural change over time. City Folk will be of interest to a diverse readership that stretches from general readers interested in folk dance and dancers and modern cultural history more broadly, to academic readers in fields including folklore, anthropology, performance, cultural studies, social history, and transatlantic perspectives. -- Michael Frisch,University at Buffalo, State University of New YorkWalkowitz brings the joy of a dancer together with the analytical acuity of a scholar to create a fascinating picture of how English Country Dance reflected the shifting terrain of twentieth-century liberalism. City Folk is a model study of culture and politics. -- Lizabeth Cohen,author of A Consumers Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar AmericaWalkowitz has drawn from a plethora of primary and secondary sources, and from his own experience, to produce a fascinating, wide-ranging history of English country dance in Great Britain and the US. . .The transatlantic approach is groundbreaking; no comparable studies exist. The book includes numerous illustrations, detailed endnotes, and a helpful bibliography. Summing Up: Highly Recommended. * Choice *[] Walkowitzs conclusion that the English Folk Revival emerged from belief in & the redemptive power essential Englishness is both succinct and credible; his summary of attitudes within its American equivalentis persuasive. * Folklore *Table of ContentsAbbreviations Preface Acknowledgments Introduction I Anglo-American Urban Folk Revivals 1 Revival Stories 2 Orderly Bodies: Dancing New York, 1900-1914 3 Orderly Bodies: Dancing London, 1900-1914 4 Planting a Colony in America 5 The American Branch I I Liberalism and Folk Reimaginings 6 The Second Folk Revival 7 Re-Generation 8 Modern English Country Dance and the Culture of Liberalism Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisA rite of passage for Filipino American college students, Filipino Cultural Night challenges official accounts of the pastTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Prologue Introduction 1. The Art of the State: Inventing Philippine Folkloric Forms (Manila, 1934) 2. “Take It from the People”: Dancing Diplomats and Cultural Authenticity (Brussels, 1958) 3. Dancing into Oblivion: The Pilipino Cultural Night (Los Angeles, 1983) 4. Repetitive Motion: The Mechanics of Reverse Exile (San Francisco, 1993) 5. Making a Mockery of Everything We Hold True and Dear: Exploring Parody with Tongue in a Mood’s PCN Salute (San Francisco, 1997) Conclusion Epilogue: Memoria Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Africa Dances Gorer takes the reader on an odyssey across West Africa, in the company of Feral Benga, one of the great black ballet stars of 1930s Paris. It is a devastating critique of colonial rule, which is shown to be destroying African society just as effectively as Christian missionaries undermine indigenous morality. Africa Dances captures the rich physical and psychological detail of African village life from food and architecture to dance and magic. Gorer witnesses men diving for three-quarters of an hour without coming up for breath, witch-doctors conjuring thunderstorms out of clear blue skies, and chameleon fetishists whose skin changes from a dirty white to almost black. This is a place where if you believe, you can.Trade ReviewHe has made one of the most singular journeys of modern times, and he has given us a book which opens a window on a world that most of us hardly realise exists ...There are no reservations in this astonishing book. Sex, religion, politics the place of fetish and magic, wrestling, dancing and marriage ... A book I could not put down from the first page to the last. Daily Telegraph

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Book Synopsis'An epic of noble proportions' Spectator A thrilling journey in search of the legendary malambo dance of Argentina, and one Gaucho who faces the biggest contest of his life Every year, at the height of summer, the remote Argentinian village of Laborde holds the prestigious national malambo contest. Little known outside the Argentinian pampas, the malambo is a centuries-old gaucho dance, governed by the most rigid rules and shatteringly physically demanding. It is the object of obsession for thousands of young working-class men, who sacrifice their spare time, their bodies and what little money they have to try to win the title of Malambo Champion. The twist is that a Malambo Champion may never compete again. In 2011, Leila Guerriero travelled to Laborde for what was supposed to be a brief investigation into this intriguing contest. But on the second night, one dancer's towering performance takes her breath away - he doesn't win, but Guerriero, irresistibly drawn, spends the next year following him in his preparations for the 2012 festival. In this remarkable work of reportage Guerriero proves herself to be as sharp-eyed as Gay Talese, as lyrical as Norman Mailer.Trade ReviewAn epic of noble proportions... [Guerriero] is a mistress of the telling phrase or the revealing detail' Spectator [Guerriero] irrefutably proves that journalism can be one of the beaux arts -- Mario Vargas Llosa A brilliantly observed chronicle Lady Startling bit of journalism... a rich portrait into a little seen part of Argentina Wanderlust Moving Economist A formidable writer who does not need to resort to fiction to tell real stories that seem too fantastic to be true... her writing manages to express so much with so little El Periodico - Dominical Transcends parochialism to explore that common ground that has become the place of the human condition... Leila Guerriero is a maestro Canarias 7 Fascinating El Mercurio, Chile Captures your interest from the first page... An exciting work that mixes reportage and fiction; a book that is both moving and strangely familiar Blog Tiempo de Silencio en Antena3.com

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Book SynopsisEveryone who viewed the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games can understand the power of dance and mass movement in the service of politics. While examples of such public performances and huge festivals are familiar in Nazi Germany, the former Soviet Union and today's North Korea, this new book addresses the lesser known examples of Spain under Franco, the Dominican Republic, Iran, Croatia and Uzbekistan, all of which have been subjected to various political regimes. Dance and choreographed mass movement is the newest field of serious research in dance studies, particularly in the fields of politics and international relations and gender and sexuality. The author uses dance as a lens through which to study political, ethnic, and gendered phenomena so that the reader grasps that dance constitutes an important non-verbal lens for the study of human behaviour. This is the first study on dance and political science to focus specifically on authoritarian regimes. It is a significant and original contribution to scholarship in the field, with the key studies drawn from a variety of different geographical and historical backgrounds. In Spain under Franco, the Women's Section of the fascist Falange created a folk dance program that toured widely and through the performance of Spanish regional folk dances performed by virginal young Spanish women, embodying Catholic purity, permitted the regime to re-enter the world of polite diplomacy. The Dominican Republic dictator, Rafael Trujillo, himself a gifted dancer, raised the popular folk and vernacular dance, the merengue, to the level of the "national" dance, which became a symbol of his regime and Dominican identity, which merengue it still maintains. For over a thousand years, Croatia, has endured a series of authoritarian regimes – Hapsburg, Napoleon, the Yugoslav royal dictatorship, fascist, Josip Broz Tito's communist regime, Franjo Tudjaman – that ruled that small nation. For over 70 years, Lado, the National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia, has served as "the light of Croatian identity." Through its public performances of folk dances and music, Lado has become the face of a series of different regimes. In Iran, dance became banned under the Islamic Republic after serving the Pahlavi regime as a form of representation of its peasant population and its historic Persian identity. Uzbekistan currently has expanded the role of the invented tradition of Uzbek "classical" dance, created during the soviet period, as a representation of Uzbek identity, in national festivals. Thus, through these examples, the reader will see how dance and mass movement have become important as political means for a variety of authoritarian regimes to represent themselves. Primary readership will be dance scholars; particularly the growing number interested in ethno-identity dances of the second half of the twentieth-century Will be of interest to academic libraries and departments, with valuable information and interest also for scholars of ethnology, anthropology, cultural studies, history.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Dance and Ethnicity Dance and Nationalism Iran: The Shah’s New Dance Croatia: Lado—“Light of Croatian Culture” Spain: Women’s Work—The Sección Femenina and Spanish Folk Dance Dominican Republic: The Dictator’s Fancy Dance—Trujillo and Merengue Uzbekistan: Old Lamps for New—The Creation of Uzbek “Classical” Dance Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe idea that morris dancing captures the essence of ancient Englishness, inherently carefree and merry, has been present for over 400 years. The Ancient English Morris Dance traces the history of those attitudes, from the dance's introduction to England in the fifteenth century, through the contention of the Reformation and Civil War, during which morris dancing and maypoles became potent symbols of the older ways of living. Thereafter it developed and diversified, neglected and disdained, until antiquaries began to take an interest in its history, leading to its re-invention as emblematic of Victorian concepts of Merrie England in the nineteenth century. The quest for authentic understanding of what that meant led to its revival at the beginning of the twentieth century, but that was predicated on the perception of it as part of England's declining rural past, to the neglect of the one area (the industrial north-west) where it continued to flourish. The revival led in turn to its further evolution into the multitude of forms and styles in which it may be encountered today.Trade Review'Michael Heaney’s history of Morris dancing has been long and eagerly awaited, being forty years in the making, and does not disappoint. There is no doubt that it is the best book yet published on the subject, nor that for sheer comprehensive coverage it will be hard to replace.' - Ronald Hutton (2023): Folklore 'There can be no doubt that Heaney has provided the definitive work on this subject, seam­lessly contextualising and expanding on the best earlier work in the field and providing a secure anchor for any future research… one of the many virtues of this book is that it discourages over-simplification. It confirms our understanding that morris dance has never been just one thing and that neither the dancers themselves, nor the com­mentators they attracted, have been allowed to maintain position for too long.' - Peter Harrop (2023): Ethnomusicology Forum‘This is a massive book, over 500 pages including a 50 page bibliography, and it is probably not a book for the mythical 'general reader', but it is clearly and accessibly written, and does not assume any specialist knowledge on the part of the reader. It presents a lively, often humorous and very entertaining account of an often misunderstood activity, rooted in the deep history of England, but has always developed and evolved in response to the changes in the society in which it is practiced. It is well illustrated with prints and photographs, many in colour, and I am sure will be the authoritative history of morris-dancing for the foreseeable future.’ – Richard Samuels (2023): Magonia‘Drawing on some forty years of archival research, Michael Heaney’s book represents a landmark in the historiography of Morris dancing. For the first time ever, a comprehensive and consecutive narrative history from the mid-fifteenth century to the present day is contained within the covers of a single volume.’ – Matthew Simons (2023): Folk Music Journal Volume 12Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; Part I: Emergence (1448-1569) ; Chapter 1: First signs ; Chapter 2: Guilds ; Chapter 3: Parish entertainments ; Chapter 4: The first 120 years ; Part II: Contention (1570-1659) ; Chapter 5: Rumblings 1570-1599 ; Chapter 6: Attack 1600-1629 ; Chapter 7: Suppression 1630-1659 ; Part III: Fragmentation (1660-1800) ; Chapter 8: Restoration and the later Stuarts ; Chapter 9: Eighteenth-century entertainment ; Chapter 10: Lexicographers and scholars ; Chapter 11: Hanoverian communities and Whitsun ales ; Chapter 12: Beyond the Whitsun ale ; Part IV: Re-emergence (1801-1899) ; Chapter 13: Antiquaries and artistes ; Chapter 14: South-midlands morris ; Chapter 15: West-midlands morrises ; Chapter 16: East of England ; Chapter 17: North-west morris 1801-1850 ; Chapter 18: Fêtes and festivals ; Chapter 19: The decline of the rushcarts ; Chapter 20: Carnival processions ; Chapter 21: Other morrises ; Chapter 22: Fin de siècle ; Part V: Revival (1899 – present) ; Chapter 23: Defining a revival ; Chapter 24: North-west morris 1900-1930 ; Chapter 25: The revival after Sharp ; Chapter 26: The second revival ; Chapter 27: The modern English morris dance ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisUntil the 1930s no woman could perform in public and retain respectability in India. Professional female performers were courtesans and dancing girls who lived beyond the confines of marriage, but were often powerful figures in social and cultural life. Women's roles were often also taken by boys and men, some of whom were simply female impersonators, others transgender. Since the late nineteenth century the status, livelihood and identity of these performers have all diminished, with the result that many of them have become involved in sexual transactions and sexualised performances. Meanwhile, upper-class, upper-caste women have taken control of the classical performing arts and also entered the film industry, while a Bollywood dance and fitness craze has recently swept middle class India. In her historical on-the-ground study, Anna Morcom investigates the emergence of illicit worlds of dance in the shadow of India's official performing arts. She explores over a century of marginalisation of courtesans, dancing girls, bar girls and transgender performers, and de- scribes their lives as they struggle with stigmatisation, derision and loss of livelihood.Trade Review'Anna Morcom's extraordinarily compelling book represents one of the most significant interventions in the study of dance in contemporary South Asia. Masterfully bridging discourses on class, gender, globalization, economics, morality, and aesthetics, it effectively foregrounds the forms of inequality and power at work in the production, consumption, and politicization of dance in today's India.' - Davesh Soneji, McGill University, author of Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory and Modernity in South India 'This is a remarkable book, of great originality, rigour, and importance in the study of modern Indian popular culture. Combining extensive fieldwork, archival research, and astute interpretation, Morcom presents a rich exploration of the contradictory effects of modernity, nationalism, and bourgeois values on a diverse range of Indian dance traditions, old and new.' - Peter Manuel, Professor, Graduate Center of the City University of New York 'A hugely valuable addition to the literature on the performing arts in India, focusing as it does on communities of highly marginalized dancers who have received scant academic attention. Illicit Worlds of Indian Dance deals with a wide-ranging set of dance sectors including female hereditary performers, bar dancers, transgender erotic performers and kothi dancers, interpreting the author's rich ethnographic detail through a variety of theoretical lenses. On all counts, a very welcome and timely scholarly contribution.' - Prabha Kotiswaran, Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law, King's College London, and author of Dangerous Sex, Invisible Labor: Sex Work and the Law in India

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the roots of Kathaka dance forms to reveal its their sublime and divine dimension. It discusses the concepts of Tantra and Sound and their manifestation in Kathaka. It also analyses the distinct yantra formations both in the dance as well as on the dance floor.

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