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Society and the Dance

The Social Anthropology of Process and Performance

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Paperback | 21 April 1986

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240 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 1.4

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Dancing has its place in all societies; yet the phenomenon of dance has been oddly neglected by most anthropologists. This volume is intended to further anthropological awarenes of its critical relevance. It is claimed that, in a very important sense, society creates the dance, and it is to society and not just to the dancer''s experience that we must turn to understand its significance. Performance has meaning within social process.

The anthropological analysis of dance can be approached in a variety of ways. These are identified in the introduction to the volume, and then illustrated by seven case examples drawn from Africa, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and Oceania. In successive chapters, dancing is presented as a controlled emotional outlet whose form reflects cosmology; as a creative experience that draws adolescent girls into the adult world; as an extension of speech and gesture that adds further levels of meaning to formal occasions: as a strategy for orchestrating the climax of a successful exchange; as a challenge to the power of elders that generates an alternative reality; as a communal response to crisis that recreates order out of confusion: and as a sequence of transformations that periodically resolves an inherent social dilemma. The volume concludes with an assessment of the relevance of the work by a dance scholar.

By revealing dance as an aspect -- often the most spectacular aspect -- of ritual behavior, this work is intended to stimulate more anthropologists and those in related disciplines to realise the full potential of its study. It also offers insights to those who are principally interested in dance itself, as well as appealing to any reader who shares acuriosity about the ways in which the spectacle of dance can be interpreted.

Industry Reviews

"...effectively demonstrates the importance of social context in understanding dance (and other forms of art), and provides many brilliant insights into a difficult subject." -- Journal of Asian Studies

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Arts & Entertainment Dance & Other Performing Arts Dance Sociology & Anthropology Anthropology Social & Cultural Anthropology, Ethnography

List of figures and tables	p. viii
Preface	p. ix
Introduction: Interpretations of the dance in anthropology	p. 1
Dance as a safety valve: the cathartic theory (theme 1)	p. 3
Dance as an organ of social control: functionalist theories
The educational role of dance and transmission of sentiments (theme 2)	p. 8
Interaction within the dance and the maintenance of sentiments (theme 3)	p. 11
Dance as a cumulative process: the theory of self-generation (theme 4)	p. 15
The element of competition in dance: theories of boundary display (theme 5)	p. 21
Dance as ritual drama: the theory of communitas and antistructure (theme 6)	p. 27
Conclusion: the uncharted deep structures of dance (theme 7)	p. 35
Temiar dance and the maintenance of order	p. 47
Children's play and play dance	p. 48
The trance dance	p. 50
Conclusion: Temiar cosmology and dance	p. 58
Movement, dance, music, and the Venda girls' initiation cycle	p. 64
Dance forms and contrasting modes of expression	p. 67
Dance and music in Venda (1956-8)	p. 73
Vhusha, tshikanda, and domba: the three-part initiation of girls	p. 80
Conclusion	p. 88
Structured movement systems in Tonga	p. 92
Presentation of pigs	p. 94
Enumeration of foodstuffs	p. 96
Kava mixing and drinking	p. 97
Group speeches with choreographed movements	p. 102
Tau'olunga -- Tongan 'dance'	p. 110
Dance and nondance -- the Tongan view	p. 114
'A line of boys': Melpa dance as a symbol of maturation	p. 119
Melpa dances and moka exchange	p. 120
The themes of maturity and climax	p. 127
Function and form in the dance	p. 132
Conclusion	p. 135
Dance as antithesis in the Samburu discourse	p. 140
The circumcision dance and the aspirations of boyhood	p. 140
The dances of the moran and their girls	p. 143
Dancing and elderhood	p. 156
The dances of married women	p. 157
Conclusion	p. 161
The dance among the Lugbara of Uganda	p. 165
The Lugbara and their view of the world	p. 166
Death dances	p. 167
Dances of courtship	p. 171
The dances compared	p. 172
Other dances	p. 177
Dance and the resolution of ambiguity	p. 179
Style and meaning in Umeda dance	p. 183
Graphic analysis	p. 186
Dance and nondance	p. 190
Female dance	p. 195
Male dance	p. 196
Conclusion	p. 202
Epilogue: Anthropology and the study of dance	p. 206
Notes on contributors	p. 215
Name index	p. 217
Subject index	p. 219
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Society and the Dance

The Social Anthropology of Process and Performance

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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