Adversaries of Dance: From the Puritans to the Present [Hardcover]

Ann Wagner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"No other works even begin to approach this definitive accomplishment." -- Amanda Porterfield, author of Female Piety in Puritan New England. "A thorough, often funny, ironic, narratively brisk and deeply researched history." - Christian Century --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 442 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252022742
• ISBN-13: 978-0252022746
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-researched synthesis, March 23, 2006

By 

E. F. Winerock (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: ADVERSARIES OF DANCE: FROM THE PURITANS TO THE PRESENT (Paperback)

This is a particularly well-researched and comprehensive examination of opposition to dancing, especially by religious leaders and theologians, since before the Puritans. My background is in Renaissance dance, so I can't attest to the book's accuracy regarding the later periods, but the initial chapters on early antidance views are excellent. Sometimes Wagner fails to distinguish between Puritan and more mainstream Protestant reformers, but otherwise she provides an impressively thorough overview of antidance treatises and their arguments. This book is also pioneering in its scope; it examines common themes shared by antidance writers over four centuries and on two continents, and demonstrates how many later dance opponents borrowed heavily from their antidance predecessors.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what every dancer should know, December 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Adversaries of Dance: From the Puritans to the Present (Hardcover)

Despite what another reviewer said, this book is not about
a woman and her dog. It tells who the people are who
are against dancing. It documents how fiercely opposed they
were up to the early part of the 20th century, but unfortunately
says little about later in the 20th century. I suspect the
reviewer who said it was about a woman and her dog did not
want you to read the book. Perhaps the reviewer was one of
the people the book is about.

4 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, I think?, March 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: ADVERSARIES OF DANCE: FROM THE PURITANS TO THE PRESENT (Paperback)

I found this book quite profound, yet mysterious and confusing. Perhaps my knowledge of classical dance is a bit outdated, but I was in Cats. I would have liked more pictures. Despite all of these things I was enlightened by this cryptic tale of a woman and her dog.