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The Resource America dancing : from the cakewalk to the moonwalk, Megan Pugh

America dancing : from the cakewalk to the moonwalk, Megan Pugh

Creator
Author
Summary
"The history of American dance reflects the nation's tangled culture. Dancers from wildly different backgrounds watched, imitated, and stole from one another. Audiences everywhere embraced the result as deeply American. Chronicling dance from the minstrel stage to the music video, Megan Pugh shows how freedom--that nebulous, contested American ideal--emerged as a genre-defining aesthetic. Ballerinas mingled with slumming thrill-seekers, and hoedowns showed up on elite opera-house stages. Steps invented by slaves captivated the British royalty and the Parisian avant-garde. Dances were better boundary crossers than their dancers, however, and the racism and class conflicts that haunt everyday life shadow American dance as well. Center stage in America Dancing is a cast of performers who slide, glide, stomp, and swing their way through history. At the nadir of U.S. race relations, cakewalkers embraced the rhythms of black America. On the heels of the Harlem Renaissance, Bill Robinson tap-danced to stardom. At the height of the Great Depression, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers unified highbrow and popular art. In the midst of 1940s patriotism, Agnes de Mille brought jazz and square dance to ballet, then took it all to Broadway. In the decades to come, the choreographer Paul Taylor turned pedestrian movements into modern masterpiecds, and Michael Jackson moonwalked his way to otherworldly stardom. These artists both celebrated and criticized the country, all while inspiring others to get moving. For it is partly by pretending to be other people, Pugh argues, that Americans discover themselves ... America Dancing demonstrates the centrality of dance in American art, life, and identity, taking us to watershed moments when the nation worked out a sense of itself through public movement"--Publisher's description
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xii, 398 pages
Contents
  • Introduction : an American style
  • The cakewalk, America's first national dance
  • Bill Robinson's dream
  • Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers pick themselves up
  • Agnes de Mille's square dance
  • Paul Taylor's bugle boy
  • Michael Jackson's moonwalk
Isbn
9780300201314
Instance
Label
America dancing : from the cakewalk to the moonwalk
Title
America dancing
Title remainder
from the cakewalk to the moonwalk
Statement of responsibility
Megan Pugh
Title variation
From the cakewalk to the moonwalk
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"The history of American dance reflects the nation's tangled culture. Dancers from wildly different backgrounds watched, imitated, and stole from one another. Audiences everywhere embraced the result as deeply American. Chronicling dance from the minstrel stage to the music video, Megan Pugh shows how freedom--that nebulous, contested American ideal--emerged as a genre-defining aesthetic. Ballerinas mingled with slumming thrill-seekers, and hoedowns showed up on elite opera-house stages. Steps invented by slaves captivated the British royalty and the Parisian avant-garde. Dances were better boundary crossers than their dancers, however, and the racism and class conflicts that haunt everyday life shadow American dance as well. Center stage in America Dancing is a cast of performers who slide, glide, stomp, and swing their way through history. At the nadir of U.S. race relations, cakewalkers embraced the rhythms of black America. On the heels of the Harlem Renaissance, Bill Robinson tap-danced to stardom. At the height of the Great Depression, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers unified highbrow and popular art. In the midst of 1940s patriotism, Agnes de Mille brought jazz and square dance to ballet, then took it all to Broadway. In the decades to come, the choreographer Paul Taylor turned pedestrian movements into modern masterpiecds, and Michael Jackson moonwalked his way to otherworldly stardom. These artists both celebrated and criticized the country, all while inspiring others to get moving. For it is partly by pretending to be other people, Pugh argues, that Americans discover themselves ... America Dancing demonstrates the centrality of dance in American art, life, and identity, taking us to watershed moments when the nation worked out a sense of itself through public movement"--Publisher's description
Cataloging source
JAI
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1982-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Pugh, Megan
Dewey number
793.3/1973
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • portraits
Index
index present
LC call number
GV1623
LC item number
.P84 2015
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
  • bibliography
  • filmographies
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Dance
  • Dance
  • Dance in motion pictures, television, etc
  • Popular culture
  • African American dance
  • African American dancers
  • Jazz dance
  • Tap dancing
  • African American dance
  • African American dancers
  • Dance
  • Dance in motion pictures, television, etc
  • Dance
  • Jazz dance
  • Popular culture
  • Tap dancing
  • United States
Label
America dancing : from the cakewalk to the moonwalk, Megan Pugh
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-376), filmography (pages 315-319), and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction : an American style -- The cakewalk, America's first national dance -- Bill Robinson's dream -- Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers pick themselves up -- Agnes de Mille's square dance -- Paul Taylor's bugle boy -- Michael Jackson's moonwalk
Control code
ocn927314884
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
xii, 398 pages
Isbn
9780300201314
Lccn
2015939313
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, portraits
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780300201314
  • (OCoLC)927314884
Label
America dancing : from the cakewalk to the moonwalk, Megan Pugh
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-376), filmography (pages 315-319), and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction : an American style -- The cakewalk, America's first national dance -- Bill Robinson's dream -- Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers pick themselves up -- Agnes de Mille's square dance -- Paul Taylor's bugle boy -- Michael Jackson's moonwalk
Control code
ocn927314884
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
xii, 398 pages
Isbn
9780300201314
Lccn
2015939313
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, portraits
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780300201314
  • (OCoLC)927314884

Subject

Genre

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