Dance History

Since the dawn of human history, dance has been a vital form of expression in virtually every culture. From the minuet to the tango to kabuki theater to square dancing, it is a part of the social fabric of all societies, as well as an important art form. Now, Oxford presents the firstreference to document all types of dance around the world and throughout history.In six volumes, with nearly 2,000 articles written by scholars from over fifty countries, the International Encyclopedia of Dance offers authoritative coverage of the full spectrum of dance, including theatrical dance, ritual dance-drama, folk, traditional, ethnic, and social dance. Extensivehistorical and cultural overviews of many nations appear along with articles on specific dance forms, music and costumes, dance performances, biographies of dancers and choreographers, and much more. The set is alphabetically arranged, with an exhaustive index, full cross-references, and more than2,000 illustrations.Amazing in its scope and dazzling in its diversity, the International Encyclopedia of Dance is like no other reference work on dance. Accessibly written and arranged for use by a wide audience, it will be an essential addition to any arts and humanities collection.

As the credits roll at the end of a film, the names of the stars, producer, director, composer, lyricist and other production personnel are prominently displayed. But one of the most important crew members is often hard to find--the choreographer. Though they may have taught Fred and Ginger a few steps or put together a dance for a large cast of nondancers, the people who make the pictures move have often been overlooked by filmmakers and film historians alike.This is a comprehensive reference work to 970 choreographers who worked in nearly 3,500 films. For each, there is a biography providing date and place of birth (and death when appropriate), a description of their choreographic style and a listing of their stage, television, music video, nightclub and concert credits. This is followed by a listing of the movies they choreographed. A decade-by-decade history of dance on film and a filmography of choreographically important works in each decade are included.

Over the last twenty years the boundaries of dance have been radically redrawn. There has been an explosion of new activity within traditional forms like ballet, a stream of new dance languages invented by fresh generations of choreographers, and there is a growing appreciation in the West ofdance forms from the rest of the world. Fans today are likely to attend performances in classical ballet, Spanish flamenco, Indian Bharata Natyam, Japanese Butoh, jazz, modern and post-modern dance. In classical ballet they may see companies as varied as the New York City Ballet, Bolshoi, or ParisOpera. In modern dance they may see work that stems from the Graham or the Cunningham schools of movement; while in post-modern dance they may be watching choreographers who mix influences as varied as folk dance, T'ai Chi, Balanchine, and Mary Wigman, or who may be practitioners of Eurocrash,minimalism, contact improvisation or release.This new dictionary by two leading and authoritative writers on dance will provide the information necessary for dance fans to navigate the diverse modern dance scene. With an emphasis on performance the dance we see in theatres today - readers will find both fact and analysis on a wide range ofsubjects from dancers and choreographers to dance styles and technical terms.

Offering an up-to-date and comprehensive examination of modern dance, this reference offers alphabetically arranged essays, selected, written and reviewed by expert contributors.

First published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.