Description
Book SynopsisUnveils the radical roots of modern dance and recalls the excitement and energy of New York City in the 1930s. This book explores the relationship between the modern dance movement and leftist political activism in this period.
Trade Review“
Stepping Left is the first extended study of the origins, development, influence, and legacy of the radical dance movement that emerged in the United States during the 1930s. Quite simply, this book will change how the history of American dance in that decade is written.”— Lynn Garafola, author of
Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes“
Stepping Left offers a lively synthesis of archival evidence and oral history that vividly recreates an era when dance became ‘a weapon in the revolutionary class struggle,’ to quote the slogan of the Workers Dance League. Graff gracefully integrates biographical information on the dancers involved with accounts of the organizations they founded and descriptions of specific works they created. Her study fills an important gap in the literature on American dance.”—Susan Manning, author of
Ecstacy and the Demon: Feminism and Nationalism in the Dances of Mary Wigman
