Waltzing Through Europe: Attitudes towards Couple Dances in the Long Nineteenth Century - cover image

Copyright

Egil Bakka; Theresa Jill Buckland; Helena Saarikoski; Anne von Bibra Wharton

Published On

2020-09-10

ISBN

Paperback978-1-78374-732-0
Hardback978-1-78374-733-7
PDF978-1-78374-734-4
HTML978-1-80064-588-2
XML978-1-78374-737-5
EPUB978-1-78374-735-1
MOBI978-1-78374-736-8

Language

  • English

Print Length

494 pages (x+484)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 34 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.35" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 38 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.5" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback2049g (72.28oz)
Hardback2456g (86.63oz)

Media

Illustrations144

OCLC Number

1197556636

LCCN

2019394530

BIC

  • ASD
  • HBTB
  • 1D
  • 3J

BISAC

  • MUS011000
  • HIS054000

LCC

  • GV1761

Keywords

  • dance studies
  • historiography
  • cultural memory
  • folklore
  • dance
  • Waltz
  • Polka

Waltzing Through Europe

Attitudes towards Couple Dances in the Long Nineteenth Century

From ‘folk devils’ to ballroom dancers, Waltzing Through Europe explores the changing reception of fashionable couple dances in Europe from the eighteenth century onwards.

A refreshing intervention in dance studies, this book brings together elements of historiography, cultural memory, folklore, and dance across comparatively narrow but markedly heterogeneous localities. Rooted in investigations of often newly discovered primary sources, the essays afford many opportunities to compare sociocultural and political reactions to the arrival and practice of popular rotating couple dances, such as the Waltz and the Polka. Leading contributors provide a transnational and affective lens onto strikingly diverse topics, ranging from the evolution of romantic couple dances in Croatia, and Strauss’s visits to Hamburg and Altona in the 1830s, to dance as a tool of cultural preservation and expression in twentieth-century Finland.

Waltzing Through Europe creates openings for fresh collaborations in dance historiography and cultural history across fields and genres. It is essential reading for researchers of dance in central and northern Europe, while also appealing to the general reader who wants to learn more about the vibrant histories of these familiar dance forms.

Reviews

All the chapters are in English, and as such the authors are able to introduce hitherto limited-access research materials in their own languages to a wider, international audience. An excellent feature of the book is the extensive use of references to online video material, including the use of QR codes to make access easier. At a time when academic book prices have become excessive, it is pleasing to note that this book is available as a free PDF online, as well as for purchase at a reasonable price. This excellent collection should appeal to anyone with an interest in popular and traditional dance and its international transmission.

Derek Schofield

Folk Music Journal, vol. 12, no. 2,

Contributors

Egil Bakka

(editor)
Professor Emeritus of Dance Studies at Norwegian University of Science and Technology
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9959-1474

Egil Bakka is Professor Emeritus of Dance Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and former Director of the Norwegian Centre for Traditional Music and Dance. He built a full teaching program in Ethnochoreology at NTNU, and, in collaboration with six other universities, he developed two international Masters programs — NoMAds (Nordic Master in Dance Studies) and Choreomundus (International Master in Dance Knowledge, Practice, and Heritage) – which he coordinated. His latest publications include 'Theorizing and De-Theorizing Dance' (2018) and 'Museums, Dance, and the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage: "Events of Practice" – A New Strategy for Museums?' (with Tone Erlien, 2017).

Theresa Jill Buckland

(editor)
Professor of Dance History and Ethnography, Department of Dance at University of Roehampton
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9105-2230

Theresa Jill Buckland is Professor of Dance History and Ethnography, Department of Dance, University of Roehampton, London. Her edited books include Dancing from Past to Present (2006) and Folklore Revival Movements in Europe post 1950 (with Daniela Stavělová, 2018). She is also the author of Society Dancing: Fashionable Bodies in England 1870–1920 (2011).

Helena Saarikoski

(editor)
Adjunct Professor of Folklore and Women’s Studies at University of Helsinki

Helena Saarikoski is Adjunct Professor of Folklore and Women's Studies, University of Helsinki. She is a Helsinki-based folklorist, specialising in youth and women studies and ethnographic studies of popular culture.

Anne von Bibra Wharton

(editor)
Ballroom and World Dance Traditions in the Dance Department at St. Olaf College

Anne von Bibra Wharton teaches ballroom and world dance traditions in the Dance Department at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. She has served as Secretary of the ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreolgy and as an editor for multiple study group proceedings. Among her research interests are continuity and change in social dance forms in the Franconian region of Germany, which include many round dances.