Ballroom

Culture and Costume in Competitive Dance

Jonathan S Marion author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:1st May '08

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Ballroom cover

Also available in hardback, 9781845207991 GBP55.00 (May, 2008)

Competitive ballroom is much more than a style of dance. This book explores the intersection of dance cultures, dress and the body. It shows how dancing influences mind and body alike. It provides an ethnographic picture of how dancers and others live their lives both on and off the dance floor.Competitive ballroom is much more than a style of dance. Rather, it is a continually evolving and increasingly global social and cultural arena: of fashion, performance, art, sport, gender and more. Ballroom explores the intersection of dance cultures, dress and the body. Presenting the author's experiences at an international range of dance events in Europe, the US and UK, as well as featuring the views of individual dancers, the book shows how dancing influences mind and body alike. For students of anthropology, dance, cultural and performance studies, Ballroom provides an ethnographic picture of how dancers and others live their lives both on and off the dance floor.

'Ballroom is a deeply layered and compelling account of competitive ballroom dance, combining Jonathan Marion's insightful roles as ethnographer, photographer, and accomplished ballroom dancer. The book should be read by everyone curious about the fundamental nature of dance in human society, no matter what their particular dance passion may be. Anyone interested in the world of competitive ballroom dance will find Ballroom an invaluable resource.' Anya Peterson Royce, Indiana University 'With the ethnographic authority of a ballroom dancer, Jonathan Marion takes us to the world of competitions in this exciting dancesport. Ballroom is an absorbing book. It reveals how this dance form indexes broader issues of performance and costume as well as gender, transnationality and the visual.' Helena Wulff, Stockholm University A welcome addition to a growing body of literature about competitive and social dance forms ... not only contributes to our understanding of ballroom dance but also furthers and suggests the continuing promise of dance research carried out through interdisciplinary methodologies. American Ethnologist

ISBN: 9781845208004

Dimensions: 234mm x 156mm x 12mm

Weight: 336g

224 pages