Overview

This study focuses on dance as an activist practice in and of itself, across geographical locations and over the course of a century, from 1920 to 2020. Through doing so, it considers how dance has been an empowering agent for political action throughout civilisation. Dance and Activism offers a glimpse of different strategies of mobilizing the human body for good and justice for all, and captures the increasing political activism epitomized by bodies moving on the streets in some of the most turbulent political situations. This has, most recently, undoubtedly been partly owing to the rise of the far-right internationally, which has marked an increase in direct action on the streets. Offering a survey of key events across the century, such as the fall of President Zuma in South Africa; pro-reproductive rights action in Poland and Argentina; and the recent women's marches against Donald Trump's presidency, you will see how dance has become an urgent field of study. Key geographical locations are explored as sites of radical dance - the Lower East Side of New York; Gaza; Syria; Cairo, Iran; Iraq; Johannesburg - to name but a few - and get insights into some of the major figures in the history of dance, including Pearl Primus, Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow and Ahmad Joudah. Crucially, lesser or unknown dancers, who have in some way influenced politics, all over the world are brought into the limelight (the Syrian ballerinas and Hussein Smko, for example). Dance and Activism troubles the boundary between theory and practice, while presenting concrete case studies as a site for robust theoretical analysis.

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9781350137011

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Reviews

Mills's book provides unique case studies that draw from different forms of dance across the globe. These case studies analyse the actions of the dancers and choreographers, not choreographed works. The majority of books about dance and politics rely on analysis of dance pieces or theorize from generalized notions of dance. Mills also focuses on the actions of the dancers and choreographers whose actions are explicitly political/create direct action in the world. The site of their action is the world at large, not the theatre for a select audience. The majority of books about dance and politics discuss the political effects of events that occur in the closed environment of the theatre or dance studio. * Leah Cox, Dean of the American Dance Festival * Mills shows how dance and dancers from the stage to the streets have responded to forces of alienation and oppression, and how they have moved their bodies-and others-to imagine different worlds. It is a stirring and powerful read, and a prelude to action. * Glory Liu, Harvard University, USA * The past is constantly present as Dana Mills chronicles the extraordinary potential our expressive dancing body/mind. In an age of increasingly sedentary work, her deep analysis of dance as activism lays bare a far-reaching radicalism and breadth of diversity in dance forms. Dance and Activism is both timely and necessary. * Blakeley White-McGuire, Dancer, Choreographer, Educator and Activist, USA * In this groundbreaking multi-disciplinary book, Dana Mills leads dance from the wings of political activism to the centre stage of human resistance and the creative struggle for freedom and our most precious, primordial material possession - the bodies in which we live and struggle for self-possession. Mills deftly choreographs a century of global theatre of street protest and popular movements through the individual stories and collective moments and movements that create surprising uprisings and new solidarities. A brilliant political theorist, activist and dancer at the forefront of the pursuit of a new dialectics for our troubled modern age, Mills shares her cogent analysis and innovative thinking in a readable, engaging form that leaps beyond intellectual boundaries and galvanises a new genre of thought in action. Vividly describing how our restless bodies can and will reach out, rise up and protect everything that is human and beautiful in our world, Dana Mills shows, with passion and commitment, why people will never stop dancing in search of freedom. * Rachel Holmes is critically acclaimed author of, most recently, Eleanor Marx: a Life and Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel * Mills artfully weaves together a massive array of case studies, drawing connections across the globe and throughout the century. * Dance International *

Mills's book provides unique case studies that draw from different forms of dance across the globe. These case studies analyse the actions of the dancers and choreographers, not choreographed works. The majority of books about dance and politics rely on analysis of dance pieces or theorize from generalized notions of dance. Mills also focuses on the actions of the dancers and choreographers whose actions are explicitly political/create direct action in the world. The site of their action is the world at large, not the theatre for a select audience. The majority of books about dance and politics discuss the political effects of events that occur in the closed environment of the theatre or dance studio. * Leah Cox, Dean of the American Dance Festival * Mills shows how dance and dancers from the stage to the streets have responded to forces of alienation and oppression, and how they have moved their bodies-and others-to imagine different worlds. It is a stirring and powerful read, and a prelude to action. * Glory Liu, Brown University, USA * The past is constantly present as Dana Mills chronicles the extraordinary potential our expressive dancing body/mind. In an age of increasingly sedentary work, her deep analysis of dance as activism lays bare a far-reaching radicalism and breadth of diversity in dance forms. Dance and Activism is both timely and necessary. * Blakeley White-McGuire, Dancer, Choreographer, Educator and Activist, USA *

Author Information

Dana Mills is a writer, activist and dancer based in Amsterdam. She is the author of Dance and Politics: Moving beyond Boundaries and Rosa Luxemburg.

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