Dancing on the Canon Embodiments of Value in Popular Dance [Paperback]

Employing a cultural theory approach, this book explores the relationship between popular dance and value. It traces the shifting value systems that underpin popular dance scholarship and considers how different dancing communities articulate complex expressions of judgment, significance and worth through their embodied practice.Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: Let's Dance! PART I: UNDERSTANDING VALUE Dancing on the Canon The Value(s) of Cultural Studies What is Popular Dance? Writing Popular Dance Embodiments of Value PART II: DANCING VALUES 'Naughty but Nice': (Re)Articulations of Value in Neo-Burlesque Striptease Pogoing, Headbanging and Skanking: Economies of Value in Dancing Subcultures 'There's a Land That I've Dreamed About': Envisioning Value at Sunday Serenade Conclusion: The Value of Popular Dance Bibliography Index

This is a very well-researched, thoughtful, and thoroughly argued study, which should have a significant impact on the dance studies field. Dancing on the Canon contextualizes the reasons for popular dance's traditionally low status and provides much needed discussion about the potential of popular and social dance scholarship. - Julie Malnig, Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance Performance, New York University, USA

...Dodds here contextualizes and challenges the traditionally low value accorded popular social dances within dance scholarship...Including 19 photographs, useful endnotes, and an extensive bibliography, this book will be a worthwhile resource for those interested in dance, gender and sexuality, and popular culture. Summing Up:Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, professionals. - CHOICE

...a vital and very well-written contribution to critical dance scholarship and pedagogy as well as a good starting point for dance educators and students interested in phenomena of popular dance. Stefanie C. Boulila, Research in Dance Education