When Men Dance explores the intersection of dance and perceptions of male gender and sexuality across history and different cultural contexts. Chapters tackle the history and dilemmas that revolve around dance and notions of masculinity from a variety of dance studies perspectives, and are accompanied by fascinating personal histories that complement their themes.
When Men Dance explores the intersection of dance and perceptions of male gender and sexuality across history and different cultural contexts. In many societies, the public performance of dance is regarded as a feminine activity, so that men who dance often operate in a sea of stereotypes. This volume's scholarly essays tackles the history and dilemmas that revolve around dance and notions of masculinity from a variety of dance studies perspectives. Accompanying the theoretical chapters are a group of fascinating personal histories that complement their themes. The dancing male body emerges in its many contexts, from the ballet, modern, and popular dance world to stages in Georgian and Victorian England, Weimar Germany, India and the Middle East. The men who dance and those who analyze them tell stories that will be both familiar and surprising for insiders and outsiders alike.
An intriguing, readable book about how, why, when, and where men dance...Highly recommended.
