Anthony Shay Boeken

In this book Anthony Shay examines the life and works of renowned choreographer Igor Moiseyev and his dance company.

Exploring the concept of "folk," this book examines the authenticity of folk dance as performed by both trained professionals and amateur groups. It questions whether these performances genuinely represent cultural heritage or are curated representations for entertainment. By investigating the origins and identities of the folk, the study highlights the ethnic references inherent in these dances, contrasting them with modern dance forms. Additionally, it profiles various choreographers and artistic directors, offering a comprehensive view of the folk dance landscape.

In this insightful study, Anthony Shay explores the concept of "ethno identity dances," proposing a distinction between staged dances representing national and ethnic groups and traditional folk dances. He delves into various motivations for these performances, including recreation, profit, and ethnic pride, while examining diverse dance forms like belly dance, Tango, and Irish step dancing.

"Everyone who watched the opening ceremony of Beijing's 2008 Summer Olympics can understand the power of dance and mass movement in the service of politics. Public performance and festival at such scale are familiar to us in Nazi Germany, the former Soviet Union, and contemporary North Korea, but this new book addresses lesser-known examples--in Spain, the Dominican Republic, Iran, Croatia, and Uzbekistan--and explores the various political regimes that ruled them. Using dance as a lens through which to study political, ethnic, and gendered phenomena, Anthony Shay shows us how dance and mass movement have served as important political tools throughout history and across a variety of authoritarian regimes. Dance and Authoritarianism is a significant and original contribution to the scholarship at the intersection of dance, ethnology, anthropology, cultural studies, and history." -- Provided by publisher