Product Description

Now in paperback, Anthropology and the Dance is a lively, controversial examination and discussion of theories of the dance by the pioneer of the anthropology of human movement. Drid Williams's definitive text is intended for graduate students in anthropology who are faced with the wide spectrum of theories of human movement, including the dance, sign language, martial arts, and rituals. With its groundbreaking approach to this previously unexamined field, this book also brings the study of human movement to readers in fields such as philosophy, psychology, sociology, ethnomusicology, physical education, music, linguistics, the dance, and dance education. Williams examines subjects ranging from Aboriginal and African dances to the Royal Ballet and makes a compelling case for moving beyond the Western view of the dance as mere entertainment, locating human movement firmly and irrefutably within the sphere of serious study. Anthropology and the Dance: Ten Lectures is an expanded and revised second edition of Ten Lectures on Theories of the Dance (1991). Included are a glossary of terms, indexes, notes, an updated bibliography, and an appendix, "An Exercise in Applied Personal Anthropology."