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EVENTS RESOURCES THE NFO |
BOOKS, NEWSLETTERS Books
 Black Dance from 1619 to Today by Lynne Fauley Emery (Princeton: Princeton Book Co., 1988); $19.95. A complete and fascinating history with many notes and quotes, and a foreword by Katherine Dunham. Lynne Emery is a social scientist and historian who has a great knowledge of dance. It is available at commercial bookstores.
Dancing Through Time: Western Social Dance in Literature, 1400-1918, Allison Thompson, compiler. A survey of social dance, and the ballroom as a setting for social interaction, in the lives of English and U.S. middle and upper classes. 88 literary excerpts, full index, hardcover, 259 pages, $41.50. CDSS, P.O. Box 338, Haydenville, MA 01039; 413/268-7426; sales@cdss.org. Folk Dance Problem Solver 2006 by Ron Houston. Dance descriptions (16th in his series) and other information, including a piece by Ron on Assyrian Folk Dances as well as his chronological listing, "'Israeli'" Dance, Before the Flood." This and the newsletter, "Report to Members," available when you join Ron's Society of Folk Dance Historians, 2100 Rio Grande, Austin, TX 78705.
Glad i att dansa! by Bill Gooch, international dance leader and Scandiphile of Knoxville. A collection of 100+ descriptions of traditional dances from 14 Swedish provinces, including detailed maps with dance locations. $20 plus $4 postage to 4401 Alta Vista Way, Knoxville, TN 37919; 423/522-0515; Goochbill@aol.com.
Music and Song in Persia: The Art of Avaz by Dr. Lloyd C. Miller, (Publisher: Curzon Press London & University of Utah Press USA - 1999), is the first full-length analysis of the theory and practice of Persian singing, demonstrating the centrality of Persian elements in the Music of the Islamic Middle Ages, their relevance to both contemporary and traditional Iranian music and their interaction with classical Persian poetry and metrics. This book also chronicles the efforts to document and preserve traditional Iranian folk and classical music during the 1970s. Available at http://www.Amazon.com and http://www.Amazon.co.uk
Polish Folk Costumes by Christopher Majka, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The 800-page book includes in-depth descriptions of more than 80 dances, including the national dances (Polonez, Mazur, Kujawiak, Oberek, and Krakowiak). Each description contains step-by-step dance instructions accompanied by historical and cultural background. The book also includes more than 400 illustrations of dance movements, over 90 music transcriptions with lyrics in Polish and English plus translation and pronunciation, and a number of maps. For more information, or to get your author's autographed copy, contact Ada Dziewanowska, 3352 N. Hackett Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211; 414/964-8444. Polish Folk Embroidery by Jadwiga Turska (New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 1998); $75. Includes more than 200 color illustrations from 31 regions; 336 pages. Hippocrene Books, 171 Madison Ave., New York 10016; phone, 212/685-4371; fax, 212/779-9338.
Romanian Traditional Dance: A Contextual and Structural Approach by Anca Giurchescu with Sunni Bloland (Mill Valley, Calif: Wild Flower Press, 1995); $40 plus $5/shipping and handling. This is the book Sunni and her colleague, Anca, have been working on for two decades and is a comprehensive document on everything you ever wanted to know about Romanian folk dance. It is worth owning for the photos alone. You can order it from Sunni Bloland, 1734 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94703. The World of Greek Dance by Alkis Raftis (Finedawn Publishers, 1997), contains tradition and folklore in Greek dance, history, dance events, and a comprehensive directory of festivals, groups, museums, and resources. Contact Dora Stratou Theatre, 8 Scholiou Street, 105 58 Athens, Greece.
A World Treasure of Folk Wisdom by Reynold Feldman and Cynthia A. Voelke (Harper San Fransisco, 1992); $16. This little reference book is filled with gems of wisdom from many cultures such as "Don't jump high in a low-ceilinged room" (Czech) or "When the music changes, so does the dance" (Hausa). Other wise sayings are scattered around this newsletter. It is available in commercial bookstores.  The People Have Never Stopped Dancing
by Jacqueline Shea Muphy
(University of Minnesota Press 2007). During the past thirty years, Native American dance has emerged as a visible
force on concert stages throughout North America. In this first major study of contemporary Native American dance, Jacqueline Shea Murphy shows how these performances are at once diverse and connected by common influences.
Newsletters East European Folklore Center News, PO Box 3969, Eugene, OR 97403. A four pager with much information on Balkan dance and music events. Also, check out the EEFC e-mail list for discussion of all issues concerning Balkan music and dance. Questions: rich@ccrwest.org. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe eefc" to majordomo@ccrwest.org. Let’s Dance! magazine is published by the Folk Dance Federation of California, Inc. 10 times a year. It comes free with membership in the Federation and contains articles of interest to folk dancers, listings of clubs and other dances in Northern California, advertisements and dance descriptions. Membership in the Federation costs: (U.S.) $22.50 per year, (out of country) $32.50 per year. To join send a check to: Sidney Messer, Box 561, Sausalito, CA 94966. To submit an article to the magazine of place an ad, contact editor@letsdancemag.net or call 415-488-9197 days. The Northwest Folkdancer, PO Box 1944, Woodinville, WA 98072-1944. A 24–page newsletter full of informative articles about folk dance, folk music, folk costumes, travel, club news, and folk dance events; often also includes dance descriptions, music and lyrics, and ethnic recipes. $16/year for individuals, $20/year for families, $18/year for clubs. Membership form and complete information available on the Web site: www.scn.org/arts/nfdi, or email nfdi_wa@lycos.com. Ontario FolkDancer, magazine of the Ontario Folk Dance Association, with always interesting articles. Subscription ($20[Canadian] single, $25 couple, $25 USA/overseas) includes membership in OFDA. Diane Gladstone, 22 Latimer Ave., Toronto M5N 2L8; 416/489-3566. The Society of Folk Dance Historians, 2100 Rio Grande, Austin TX 78705; 512/478-8900. Ron Houston also publishes annual books of dance notes called "Folk Dance Problem Solvers," and has incredible archives of folk dance descriptions, recordings and related collections. To submit a book, newsletter or magazine, contact the webmaster |
Cultures and Styling in Folk Dance by Sanna Longden and Phyllis Weikart (Ypsilanti, Mich.: High/Scope Press, 1998) $37.95. Written for schoolteachers, and a companion to Phyllis Weikart's other books, it is useful for anyone who teaches folk dance. The book gives up-to-date background for 27 cultures, discusses dance styling, traditional music, and lots more. In addition, it contains photos from performing ensembles, festivals, folk dance groups, and overseas travel. 400 pages. Contact 
Dance A While by Cathy L. Dark, Jane A. Harris, Anne M. Pittmann, Marlys S. Waller. (9th Edition) If you want to teach your class something about partner, folk, social, contra, and ballroom dance, it is here. This book covers everything from A to Z. It even gives you a glossary just in case you did not know some of those square dance calls. And, its many indexes and other additions at the back of the book are fabulous to help you plan and find all kind of relevant material. 
Index to Viltis 1944-1994 compiled by Shari and Bert Osen; edited by DeWayne Young. An index to Viltis Magazine to assist you in locating articles about folk dance, folklore, and recipes. The index is valuable for dancers, teachers, library collections, researchers, and students of international folk dance. $5 includes priority mail shipping. Order from L. DeWayne Young,
359 So. Cleveland, Ave, Blackfoot, ID 83221; 
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. This beautiful novel has nothing to do with ethnic dance, except that geishas had to be superb dancers. However, the historical facts of a geisha's day-to-day life in the 1930s and '40s are carefully researched by the author (his first book) who has degrees in Japanese art history and Japanese history. Insights into this complex culture are amazing, the story is spellbinding. 
Barnyard Dance
Musical Instruments of the World, an Illustrated Encyclopedia by the Diagram Group (New York: Facts on File Inc., 1976); $19.95. This great resource has more than 4000 drawings of a global range of traditional, historic, and contemporary instruments from all cultures, divided into the instrument types of aerophones, idiophones, membranophones, chordophones, and mechanical and electrical instruments, and more. Available commercially and from music education catalogs. 
Polish Folk Dances and Songs: A Step by Step Guide by Ada Dziewanowska (New York: Hippocrene Books); $39.50 plus $3.00 shipping. 
The Sprit of Hula
World Music: The Rough Guide (London: The Rough Guides, Ltd., 1994); $19.95 USA, $25.99 Canada. A complete handbook of music of the world's peoples focusing on popular music, both contemporary and traditional. Much information about musicians and recordings as well as cultural backgrounds and instruments. It is available in commercial bookstores.