African American Dance: An Illustrated History
African dance traditions survived the diaspora and took root in American soil, flourishing and evolving with vigor and grace to make African American dance one of the world's most influential artistic forces. Glass, who combines zeal for her subject with scholarly ardor, defines key "African-derived dance characteristics," and charts the ingenious intermingling of African and European dance styles that resulted in such "quintessentially American" dances as the Charleston, shimmy, black bottom, and Lindy Hop. Interwoven in Glass' fascinating aesthetic discourse are eyebrow-raising disclosures of how racism impacted dance. The commentary is fresh and comprehensive, and the historic and revealing illustrations are astonishing in their coverage of the ring shout, the breakdown and buck dance (the roots of so many of today's moves), the bitter ironies of minstrel shows, the heyday of tap dancing, the cakewalk craze, the twist, break-dancing, and beyond. Glass profiles dozens of groundbreaking dancers, including Bert Williams and George Walker, Josephine Baker, Florence Mills, Bill Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, and Chubby Checker, deepening appreciation for the power of dance.Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.