Dance on its Own Terms: Histories and Methodologies anthologizes a wide range of subjects examined from dance-centered methodologies: modes of research that are emergent, based in relevant systems of movement analysis, use primary sources, and rely on critical, informed observation of movement. The anthology fills a gap in current scholarship by emphasizing dance history and core disciplinary knowledge rather than theories imported from disciplines outside dance. Individual chapters serve as case studies that are further organized into three categories of significant dance activity: performance and reconstruction, pedagogy and choreographic process, and notational and other written forms that analyze and document dance. The breadth of the content reflects the richness and vibrancy of the dance field; each deeply informed examination serves as a window opening onto the larger world of dance. Conceptually, each chapter also raises concerns and questions that point to broadly inclusive methodological applications. Engaging and insightful, Dance on its Own Terms represents a major contribution to research on dance.

About the Author
Melanie Bales is Professor of Dance at The Ohio State University and author of The Body Eclectic: Evolving Practices in Dance Training (Illinois, 2007). Karen Eliot is also Professor of Dance at The Ohio State University and author of Dancing Lives: Five Female Dancers from the Ballet d'Action to Merce Cunningham (Illinois, 2007)

Reviews
Here is an unquestionably lively book of dance essays, made more stimulating by the variety of new voices on the subject. Especially welcome is the central place given to dance itself, bravely situated here within a framework of current theory. * Stephanie Jordan, Research Professor in Dance, University of Roehampton *
Putting dance at the heart of dance studies is the object and refreshing contribution of this anthology covering a wide and rich terrain-from dance history to dance writing, music to dance-and-identity, and notation to pedagogy. * Lynn Matluck Brooks, Professor of Dance, Franklin & Marshall College, co-editor of Dance Chronicle: Studies in Dance and the Related Arts *
A cause for celebration: Eliot and Bales point the way forward in dance scholarship arguing that theoretical inquiry should grow from a nuanced and rigorous understanding of dance itself and its context, rather than being applied willy-nilly from outside disciplines, whether or not they fit. Clarity of expression is key. * Beth Genne, Professor of Dance and Art History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor *
An invaluable guide to the study of dance today, researchers and students alike will appreciate this volume's focus on the dance itself, though the collection never loses sight of the myriad contexts in which we perform, view, and study dance in the digital age. * Tim Scholl, author, Sleeping Beauty, a Legend in Progress *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199939985
Author Melanie Bales
Format Hardback
Page Count 456
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 896g
Dimensions(mm) 157mm * 234mm * 28mm