"The Dance" (1979, Mt)

*The Dance* is a 1979 (Mt) novel by Carrie Grammerly and one of the seminal works of the 'celesto' period of literature and poetry. The novel is a mystery-thriller and semi-fantastical piece, concerning themes of love, death, hatred, identity and reality.

The novel's protagonist, Jane Mcleary, is taken to a village in a remote island outside the UEA for 'rehabilitation', and quickly becomes privy to the unorthodox practices of the island's inhabitants, their strange rituals, and their interesting philosophy, which became the inspiration for 'Celestialoid philosophy', the idea that we are all destined to die, and that therefore death is the only moral conceivable thing, as it is ever-consistent.

## Summary

Jane Mcleary is working as a doctor in a hospital in an unnamed city in the UEA when she is accused of rape by a man she has never before met, and subsequently convicted. Without being given any choice in the matter, or any prior knowledge, she is sent to the remote island of Ballifayre, where the village inhabitants greet her as a friend.

The inhabitants of the island give her a meal, however as they try and tell her about the practices and routines in the island, she becomes aware of a lighthouse always watching her and ensuring she cannot leave the island.

After the meal, the inhabitants of the island give her a strange soup they say will heal her of her ills. She begrudgingly accepts the drink, and wakes up to the forests of the island burning. After panicking and running around her surroundings, she wakes, realising she was dreaming. When she wakes, she finds that she is still drinking the soup. She converses with one of the village inhabitants that explain to her that the soup has healing properties.

The next night she attempts to leave the island, but is captured and forced to drink the soup once again. This time, she wakes up in a nightmare in which she can see from the perspective of the dog of the two guards in the lighthouse.

She begins to explore the island, wandering into the forest to discover one villager devouring another. She runs, makes it back to the village and wakes up the next day unsure if she has dreamed the previous night's events. She is told not to venture into the forest, and given more of the same soup.

The next night she sees the same villager who previously cannibalised another, being cannibalised himself by a different individual. This time, she ventures closer, and is captured by a number of other villagers who force her to drink the soup and explain to her that she mustn't question the customs of the village. In her subsequent dream, she sees herself as the cannibal himself, devouring another.

She then begins to eat ravenously, particularly meat. She converses with a member of the village who says she fears her own life for the monsters beyond the forest. Jane then elects to drink the soup of her own free will at a meal, and experiences a dream in which she captures and eats the cannibal herself, in the forest.

The next night, after preparing to do so, she eats of the 'unholy fruit' and becomes stronger, and more awake and stimulated. She then ventures into the forest where she fights, kills, and then eats the cannibal she previously saw. She then sees the light of the lighthouse seeking her, and promptly falls asleep. She is then taken to the village square, and it is explained to her that whilst she was originally innocent, she has proven her sin and ill by having murdered another without motive. She is then executed for her crime by ritual burning.

## Reception

The book received a mixed reception from audiences, some calling it 'utterly horrific', others finding it to be of great cultural and philosophical significance. In 1981 (Mt) it was given the Linconsense Prize for Great Work.

## Historical and Cultural Significance

The Book has been taught on numerous school curricula as a great work and a work of philosophical significance. It has been one of the defining works of the Celesto period of literature, alongside poems such as 'The Great Leopard' and 'Gods and Frogs'. The meanings and intentions behind the philosophy, that anyone can be turned to crime and immorality, that morality is an ephemeral and non-existent quality, and that death is the only true moral object, due to its consistency and irrefutability, have been studied extensively, and went on to form the foundations of 'celestialoid philosophy', championed by Roadie Micheal and Backa Wayne, as well as other philosophers, singers and celebrities.