"The German choreographer Kurt Jooss (1901-1979) belonged to a generation of artists who grew up and matured between the two world wars. Jooss was a major innovator in dance and an active participant in Weimar culture. Suzanne K. Walther provides a brief political and cultural history of the Weimar Republic; an overview of dance and choreography during this period leads to a detailed account of the contributions of Rudolf von Laban to German dance and his early association and life-long friendship with Jooss. The author provides complete descriptions and analyses of the four extant Jooss ballets: Pavane on the Death of an Infanta, Big City, A Ball in Old Vienna, and the award-winning anti-war ballet The Green Table. It also provides a full assessment of Jooss's fundamental contributions to the development of German modern dance, his aesthetic legacy, his concern with the social and humanitarian issues of his time, and the lasting influence of his pedagogical methods."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

With its fresh and exciting new brand of fantasy, the army of devoted Thraxas followers is growing all the time. Now Thraxas is back! Death has come to the magical city of Turai, and not in a good way. Evil, silent and, er, evil, it ploughs through the air like an undead farmer. And it's up to Thraxas to stop it. When he wakes up. Round about teatime. Look out for more information about this book and others at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

Elina Gertsman's multifaceted study introduces readers to the imagery and texts of the Dance of Death, an extraordinary subject that first emerged in western European art and literature in the late medieval era. Conceived from the start as an inherently public image, simultaneously intensely personal and widely accessible, the medieval Dance of Death proclaimed the inevitability of death and declared the futility of human ambition. Gertsman inquires into the theological, socio-historic, literary, and artistic contexts of the Dance of Death, exploring it as a site of interaction between text, image, and beholder. Pulling together a wide variety of sources and drawing attention to those images that have slipped through the cracks of the art historical canon, Gertsman examines the visual, textual, aural, pastoral, and performative discourses that informed the creation and reception of the Dance of Death, and proposes different modes of viewing for several paintings, each of which invited the beholder to participate in an active, kinesthetic experience.

In dance, the choreographer creates, the dancer performs and the viewer observes. This work is a handbook for the viewer. By presenting historical and artistic perspectives of dance, dance events are made more approachable and appreciation for the art form is heightened. The choreographic components of body language, content, structure, music, design and interpretation are included. Also discussed is the development of critical reaction over time. Examples are drawn from Western theatrical dance and worldwide cultural variations. Terms are explained throughout the text, and an extensive bibliography gives sources in print and on tape for further study. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Eroticisms: Love, Sex, and Perversion explores the elusiveness of human sensuality. In an era of conflicting moral relativism, political correctness, validation of lifestyle choices, liberation, hedonism, and postmodern pansexualism, versus resurgent puritanism, conservatism, fundamentalism, and theological anti-sexualism, this fifth volume of Psychological Undercurrents of History penetrates current debates and delves into the past to grasp the viscous ambiguities of sexuality, and reassess the question of whether the erotic can be perverse.