Joan Stone's posthumously published memoir, Guerrilla Dancer, is an incredibly moving portrait of the 1960s and 70s. It traces her transition from a classically trained ballet student to an activist who took dance off the traditional stage and onto the streets during civil rights and anti-war protests. Her writing beautifully shows how movement can become a powerful language of community and social change. The inclusion of her old journals and choreography notes added an authentic, intimate layer .... As a piece of cultural history and a testament to creative expression, it is absolutely inspiring.
- Chelsea Walsh, NetGalley Reviewer
Joan's book is undeniably relatable. It's as though you are in the room with her witnessing the raw process...her gesture.. her thinking.. and yet in that way it calls, not only to a younger generation of dancers, but also to the deepest parts of ourselves which have been yearning for a road map-a reorientation to the why we do what we do or sometimes, why we fear doing what must be done. We are allowed to see her bravery as she forged her own path of engaging audiences by connecting the thinking and doing, the physical and the intellectual. ...
This book in so many ways is the roadmap that modern dance has been searching for again... returning to critical thought and self-analysis - asking 'Why,' not only of each dancer, but of the work itself, the gesture, the character, the pattern, or the ritual of dance. ...
-Meggi Sweeney Smith
"Joan Stone's memoir, Guerilla Dancer, weaves several strands of narrative in a compelling story of grassroots political organizing through a highly readable account of a postmodern choreographer. She recounts a social history of activism with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the American Indian Movement (AIM), and other New Left groups. Drawn from decades of journals and archives, Stone reconstructs a critical period of dance as social action. ... What emerges most forcefully is Stone's distinctive artistic voice. She curates language to describe movement in accessible terms, scripts conversations between characters, and maps milestones along the journey. Her descriptions of dance-making read like poetry in their compression of meaning. I recommend this book to readers who love dance, history, autobiography, and creative nonfiction."
-Michelle Heffner Hayes (PhD, UC-Riverside) is a professor of Theatre & Dance at the University of Kansas, where she teaches choreography, critical dance studies, pedagogy, and flamenco. She has a wide-ranging career as a scholar, choreographer, arts administrator, performer, and teacher. Her publishing history includes Flamenco:
"Guerrilla Dancer: Memoir of a Revolution blends dance with political inquiry in a memoir of the 1960s and '70s, examining Joan Stone's growing political awareness and its influence on her passion for dance. Stone draws important connections between art and social movements from the start. The memoir tracks her development as a dancer and choreographer alongside a growing 'deep social consciousness.' ... Readers interested in memoirs of the 1960s and its political and social turbulence will be fascinated by an account of how the arts weave into these larger movements. ... Libraries interested in multifaceted memoirs will find Guerrilla Dancer a powerful representation of dance and social change.
Dance isn't politics, but 'it can make people think about politics in new ways.' So can this memoir." message as well as the medium has to be changed, and they're being jailed and killed for trying!"
-D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
