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The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance
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The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance Hardcover - 2013

by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

A fascinating exploration of an ancient system of beliefs and its links to the evolution of dance.


From the publisher

From southern Greece to northern Russia, people have long believed in female spirits, bringers of fertility, who spend their nights and days dancing in the fields and forests. So appealing were these spirit-maidens that they also took up residence in nineteenth-century Romantic literature.

Archaeologist and linguist by profession, folk dancer by avocation, Elizabeth Wayland Barber has sleuthed through ethnographic lore and archaeological reports of east and southeast Europe, translating enchanting folktales about these "dancing goddesses" as well as eyewitness accounts of traditional rituals--texts that offer new perspectives on dance in agrarian society. She then traces these goddesses and their dances back through the Romans and Greeks to the first farmers of Europe. Along the way, she locates the origins of many customs, including coloring Easter eggs and throwing rice at the bride. The result is a detective story like no other and a joyful reminder of the human need to dance.

Details

  • Title The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance
  • Author Elizabeth Wayland Barber
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 448
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher W. W. Norton & Company, New York
  • Date 2013-02
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Dust Cover, Illustrated, Index, Maps, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780393065367 / 0393065367
  • Weight 1.9 lbs (0.86 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.5 x 7 x 1.3 in (24.13 x 17.78 x 3.30 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Eastern Europe
  • Library of Congress subjects Agriculture, Goddesses
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2012038940
  • Dewey Decimal Code 398.209

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 02/15/2013, Page 8
  • Choice, 07/01/2013, Page 0
  • Kirkus Reviews, 02/15/2013, Page 0
  • Library Journal, 05/01/2013, Page 80
  • Publishers Weekly, 11/05/2012, Page 0
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The Dancing Goddesses : Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance
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