"Dance is a powerful, frequently adopted symbol of the way people feel about themselves. " So concludes the author of this pioneering book, the first general introduction to the anthropology of dance. Since anthropology has broadened its horizons to include Western, industrialized, and urban societies, the study of dance culture may, with equal legitimacy, observe ballet, the Hawaiian hula, the classical tradition of Bharata Natyam, the pigeon wings and polkas of the California gold rush miners, and the minuets of colonial Virginaia planters. Dance makes its unique contribution to society and culture by virtue of its form and expression; at the same time it is intimately bound up with the elements of religion, kinship and social organization, politics, and economics. The fact that dance is inseparable from its means of expression-the human body making patterns in time and space-means that it cannot be divorced from its social and cultural context. The author first explores the various...