I See America Dancing: Selected Readings, 1685-2000Maureen Needham Representing dancers, scholars, admirers, and critics, I See America Dancing is a diverse collection of primary documents and articles about the place and shape of dance in the United States from colonial times to the present. This volume offers a lively counterpoint between observers of the dance and dancers' views of what they do when they dance. Dance traditions represented include the Native American pow-wow; tribal music and dance activities on Sunday afternoons in New Orlean's Congo Square; the colonial Playford Balls and their modern offspring, country line dancing; and the Buddhist-inspired Japanese Bon dances in Hawaii. Anti-dance perspectives include government injunctions against Native American dancing and essays from a range of speakers who have declared the waltz, the twist, or the senior prom to be a careless quick-step away from hell or the brothel. I See America Dancing examines the styles that have marked theatrical dance in America, from French ballet to minstrel shows, and presents the views of influential dancers, choreographers, and the pioneers of early modern dance in America. Specific pieces examined include George Ballanchine's ballet Stars and Stripes, Yvonne Rainer's protest piece "Flag Dance, 1970," and Sonjé Mayo's "Naked in America." Covering historical social attitudes toward the dance as well as the performers and their works, I See America Dancing is a comprehensive, scholarly sourcebook that captures the energy and passion of this vital artform. |
Contents
V | 21 |
VI | 26 |
VII | 35 |
VIII | 40 |
IX | 46 |
X | 51 |
XI | 52 |
XII | 55 |
XXXIII | 140 |
XXXIV | 145 |
XXXV | 152 |
XXXVI | 157 |
XXXVII | 163 |
XXXVIII | 167 |
XXXIX | 171 |
XLI | 172 |
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African American American dance artists audience Balanchine ballerina ballroom balls beauty Black Crook bon dance clubs celebration century ceremony choreographers color Company Creoles culture dance forms dance hall Dance Horizons Video dance in America dancers Doris Humphrey dress early English country dance English Dancing Master evil excerpts expression Fanny Elssler film flag floor Francisqui French Ghost dance girl Hawai'i History hornpipe Indian Interlocutor Isadora Duncan jazz Jean John Durang John Playford Katherine Dunham lindy hop Martha Graham Mather Maureen Needham minstrel show minutes modern dance movement music and dance Native American night O-Bon original Orleans pantomime Paris Opéra participate performed Playford pow-wow practice Promiscuous Dancing Quadrilles religious reprint ritual scene selection social dance song spirit stage steps style swing dance temples Tewa Theatre Theatrical Dance tion traditional trance tribes troupe United University Press village walk waltz woman women York young
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Page 3 - In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book, or goes to an American play, or looks at an American picture or statue...