A comprehensive and multifaceted anthology of dance history -- ideal for the classroom.

This new collection of essays surveys the history of dance in an innovative and wide-ranging fashion. Editors Dils and Albright address the current dearth of comprehensive teaching material in the dance history field through the creation of a multifaceted, non-linear, yet well-structured and comprehensive survey of select moments in the development of both American and World dance. This book is illustrated with over 50 photographs, and would make an ideal text for undergraduate classes in dance ethnography, criticism or appreciation, as well as dance history—particularly those with a cross-cultural, contemporary, or an American focus. The reader is organized into four thematic sections which allow for varied and individualized course use: Thinking about Dance History: Theories and Practices, World Dance Traditions, America Dancing, and Contemporary Dance: Global Contexts. The editors have structured the readings with the understanding that contemporary theory has thoroughly questioned the discursive construction of history and the resultant canonization of certain dances, texts and points of view. The historical readings are presented in a way that encourages thoughtful analysis and allows the opportunity for critical engagement with the text. Ebook Edition Note: Ebook edition note: Five essays have been redacted, including “The Belly Dance: Ancient Ritual to Cabaret Performance,” by Shawna Helland; “Epitome of Korean Folk Dance”, by Lee Kyong-Hee; “Juba and American Minstrelsy,” by Marian Hannah Winter; “The Natural Body,” by Ann Daly; and “Butoh: ‘Twenty Years Ago We Were Crazy, Dirty, and Mad’,”by Bonnie Sue Stein. Eleven of the 41 illustrations in the book have also been redacted.

A comprehensive and multifaceted anthology of dance history -- ideal for the classroom.

Dance is more than an aesthetic of life – dance embodies life. This is evident from the social history of jive, the marketing of trans-national ballet, ritual healing dances in Italy or folk dances performed for tourists in Mexico, Panama and Canada. Dance often captures those essential dimensions of social life that cannot be easily put into words. What are the flows and movements of dance carried by migrants and tourists? How is dance used to shape nationalist ideology? What are the connections between dance and ethnicity, gender, health, globalization and nationalism, capitalism and post-colonialism? Through innovative and wide-ranging case studies, the contributors explore the central role dance plays in culture as leisure commodity, cultural heritage, cultural aesthetic or cathartic social movement.

From healing, fertility, and religious rituals, through theatrical entertainment, to death ceremonies and ancestor worship, the updated and revised second edition of World Dance Cultures introduces an extraordinary variety of dance forms and their cultures, which are practiced around the world. This highly illustrated textbook draws on wide-ranging historical documentation and first-hand accounts taking in India, Bali, Java, Cambodia, China, Japan, Hawai‘i, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Africa, Türkiye, Spain, Native America, South America, and the Caribbean, with this second edition adding new chapters on the Pacific Islands, Southern Africa, France, and Cuba. Each chapter covers a certain region’s distinctive dances, pinpoints key issues and trends from the form’s development to its modern iteration, and offers a wealth of study features including: • Spotlights zooming in on key details of a dance form’s cultural, historical, and religious contexts • Explorations—first-hand descriptions by famous dancers and ethnographers, excerpts from anthropological fieldwork, or historical writings on the form • Think About—provocations to encourage critical analysis of dance forms and the ways in which they’re understood • Discussion Questions—starting points for group work, classroom seminars, or individual study. Offering a comprehensive overview of each dance form covered with over 100 full color photos, World Dance Cultures is an essential introductory resource for students and instructors alike.

The choreographies of Bill T. Jones, Cleveland Ballet Dancing Wheels, Zab Maboungou, David Dorfman, Marie Chouinard, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and others, have helped establish dance as a crucial discourse of the 90s. These dancers, Ann Cooper Albright argues, are asking the audience to see the body as a source of cultural identity — a physical presence that moves with and through its gendered, racial, and social meanings. Through her articulate and nuanced analysis of contemporary choreography, Albright shows how the dancing body shifts conventions of representation and provides a critical example of the dialectical relationship between cultures and the bodies that inhabit them. As a dancer, feminist, and philosopher, Albright turns to the material experience of bodies, not just the body as a figure or metaphor, to understand how cultural representation becomes embedded in the body. In arguing for the intelligence of bodies, Choreographing Difference is itself a testimonial, giving voice to some important political, moral, and artistic questions of our time. Ebook Edition Note: All images have been redacted.

Winner of the Selma Jeanne Cohen Prize in Dance Aesthetics (2014) For twenty-five years, Ann Cooper Albright has been exploring the intersection of cultural representation and somatic identity in dance. For Albright, dancing is a physical inquiry, a way of experiencing and participating in the world, and her writing reflects an interdisciplinary approach to seeing and thinking about dance. In her engagement as both a dancer and a scholar, Albright draws on her kinesthetic sensibilities as well as her intellectual knowledge to articulate how movement creates meaning. Throughout Engaging Bodies movement and ideas lean on one another to produce a critical theory anchored in the material reality of dancing bodies. This blend of cultural theory and personal circumstance will be useful and inspiring for emerging scholars and dancers looking for a model of writing about dance that thrives on the interconnectedness of watching and doing, gesture and thought. Hardcover is un-jacketed.

From healing, fertility and religious rituals, through theatrical entertainment, to death ceremonies and ancestor worship, World Dance Cultures introduces an extraordinary variety of dance forms practiced around the world. This highly illustrated textbook draws on wide-ranging historical documentation and first-hand accounts, taking in India, Bali, Java, Cambodia, China, Japan, Hawai’i, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Africa, Turkey, Spain, Native America, South America, and the Caribbean. Each chapter covers a certain region’s distinctive dances, pinpoints key issues and trends from the form’s development to its modern iteration, and offers a wealth of study features including: Case Studies – zooming in on key details of a dance form’s cultural, historical, and religious contexts ‘Explorations’ – first-hand descriptions of dances, from scholars, anthropologists and practitioners ‘Think About’ – provocations to encourage critical analysis of dance forms and the ways in which they’re understood Discussion Questions – starting points for group work, classroom seminars or individual study Further Study Tips – listing essential books, essays and video material. Offering a comprehensive overview of each dance form covered with over 100 full color photos, World Dance Cultures is an essential introductory resource for students and instructors alike.

This groundbreaking collection combines ethnographic and historic strategies to reveal how dance plays crucial cultural roles in various regions of the world, including Tonga, Java, Bosnia-Herzegovina, New Mexico, India, Korea, Macedonia, and England. The essays find a balance between past and present and examine how dance and bodily practices are core identity and cultural creators. Reaching beyond the typically Eurocentric view of dance, Dancing from Past to Present opens a world of debate over the role dance plays in forming and expressing cultural identities around the world.

Written by a diverse group of authors from across the globe, Dance Cultures Around the World offers students a rich and in-depth look at 25 different cultures of dance. Through a dynamic collaboration with the chapter authors, editors Lynn E. Frederiksen and Shih-Ming Li Chang have carefully created a unique multimedia resource that includes vetted links to dance videos, images, and other materials. The text, suitable for high school and undergraduate general education and dance courses, addresses cross-cultural dynamics, colonialism, diaspora, politics, and more as critical factors in learning about cultures of dance around the world. As stated in the preface, “Every culture has some form of dance. However, why people dance—and further, how they define and create dance—are the difficult questions at the core of this text. Once you understand why dance exists and examine the factors that explain particular dance forms, you can engage more fully with many cultures of dance, including your own.” Written by cultural insiders, the chapters illuminate contexts and histories of dances often misinterpreted through the notion of dance as a universal language. “Just as you would not expect to understand a foreign language simply because it is human speech, you cannot expect to understand foreign dance without some ‘translation.’ The multiple layers of meaning and history in foreign dances are often left unrevealed, and therefore the opportunity for true cross-cultural understanding is missed.” To ensure rich cross-cultural engagement, the insiders “translate” their dance cultures, showing how influential forces affect both the qualities of the dance and its place in society. Dance Cultures Around the World offers a wealth of information: It explores dance cultures in nine geopolitical regions. It reveals patterns that operate in each region, adjusting for historical, political, and geographical differences. It enriches the reader’s experience of their own culture, as well as those of others, as they learn what dance is in various cultures, who dances, and why they dance. Each chapter begins with a vignette describing a signature dance or dance-related feature of the culture, followed by an introduction to its history and geography. Significant events, people, and qualities of the dance culture are highlighted throughout the chapters. Instructors and students have access to online resources through HKPropel. Instructor resources include a sample syllabus, chapter summaries, and suggested answers for chapter discussion questions; a presentation package with PowerPoint slides; a test package with over 700 multiple-choice, true-false, and fill-in-the-blank questions; and ready-made chapter quizzes. Student resources include links to videos, articles, and websites for further learning; key terms and definitions; references and resources; an application activity for each chapter; and chapter quizzes. Dance Cultures Around the World gives readers an overview of dance cultures and provides an insider’s perspective on how dance develops and evolves around the world. Together with the online resources in HKPropel, the book gives students and instructors a well-crafted gateway to dance cultures across the globe. Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is not included with this ebook but may be purchased separately.