Dance History: An Introduction

Originally published in 1983 the first edition rapidly established itself as a core student text. Now fully revised and up-dated it remains the only book to address the rationale, process, techniques and methodologies specific to the study of dance history. For the main body of the text which covers historical studies of dance in its traditional and performance contexts, the editors have brought together a team of internationally known dance historians. Roger Copeland and Deborah Jowitt each take a controversial look at the modern American dance. Kenneth Archer and Millicent Hodson explain the processes they use when reconstructing 'lost' ballets, and Theresa Buckland and Georgina Gore write on traditional dance in England and West Africa respectively. With other contributions on social dance, ballet, early European modern dance and feminist perspectives on dance history this book offers a multitude of starting points for studying dance history as well as presenting examples of dance writing at its very best. Dance History will be an essential purchase for all students of dance.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 A rationale and methodology for dance history: 1. Historical perspectives 2. Methodologies 3. Dance history literature - a critical appraisal Part 2 Historical studies of dance in its traditional, social and theatre contexts: 4. Traditional dance, English ceremonial and social forms 5. Traditional dance in West Africa 6. Regional evidence for social dance with particular reference to a Yorkshire spa town, Harrogate, UK 7. Ballets lost and found. Restoring the 20th-century repertoire 8. Enrico Cechetti - the influence of tradition 9. Rambert Dance Company Archive, London 10. European early modern dance 11. Espression and expressionism in American modern dance 12. Beyond expressionism - Merce Cunningham's critique of The Natural 13. Feminist perspectives on dance history Part 3 Studying and writing dance history: 14. Pathways to studying dance history 15. Writing dance history. Appendix: Dance history texts - annotated.

About the Author :
Janet Adshead-Lansdale (Edited by), June Layson (Edited by)

Review :
'All the papers complement each other so well and manage to address the processes of dance history research in a such an effective way that the book will certainly be of benefit to researchers in traditional dance and indeed in almost any dance genre. In all, the collection is not only a self-contained starting point for any student of dance history but also will be of considerable use to dance researchers in a number of fields.' - Folk Music Jrnl