Milestones in Dance in the USA

Embracing dramatic similarities, glaring disjunctions, and striking innovations, this book explores the history and context of dance on the land we know today as the United States of America.

Designed for weekly use in dance history courses, it traces dance in the USA as it broke traditional forms, crossed genres, provoked social and political change, and drove cultural exchange and collision. The authors put a particular focus on those whose voices have been silenced, unacknowledged, and/or uncredited - exploring racial prejudice and injustice, intersectional feminism, protest movements, and economic conditions, as well as demonstrating how socio-political issues and movements affect and are affected by dance. In looking at concert dance, vernacular dance, ritual dance, and the convergence of these forms, the chapters acknowledge the richness of dance in today’s USA and the strong foundations on which it stands.

Milestones are a range of accessible textbooks, breaking down the need-to-know moments in the social, cultural, political, and artistic development of foundational subject areas. This book is ideal for undergraduate courses that embrace culturally responsive pedagogy and seek to shift the direction of the lens from western theatrical dance towards the wealth of dance forms in the United States.

Elizabeth McPherson, Professor and Director of the Dance Division at Montclair State University, is the editor of The Bennington School of the Dance: A History in Writings and Interviews and author of The Contributions of Martha Hill to American Dance and Dance Education. Executive Editor for the journal Dance Education in Practice, she has written articles for various other publications including Ballet Review, the Journal of Dance Education, and the Journal of Movement Arts Literacy. She holds a BFA from Juilliard, an MA from The City College of NY and a PhD from New York University.