Dancing Modernism / Performing Politics

In the much-anticipated update to a classic in dance studies, Mark Franko analyzes the political aspects of North American modern dance in the 20th century.

A revisionary account of the evolution of modern dance, this revised edition of Dancing Modernism / Performing Politics features a foreword by Juan Ignacio Vallejos on Franko’s career, a new preface, a new chapter on Yvonne Rainer, and an appendix of left-wing dance theory articles from the 1930s. Questioning assumptions that dancing reflects culture, Franko employs a unique interdisciplinary approach to dance analysis that draws from cultural theory, feminist studies, and sexual, class, and modernist politics. Franko also highlights the stories of such dancers as Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and even revolutionaries like Douglas Dunn in order to upend and contradict ideas on autonomy and traditionally accepted modernist dance history.

Revealing the captivating development of modern dance, this revised edition of Dancing Modernism / Performing Politics will fascinate anyone interested in the intersection of performance studies, history, and politics.

Author Biography

Mark Franko is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Dance at Temple University. He is author of The Fascist Turn in the Dance of Serge Lifar: Interwar French Ballet and the German Occupation and founding editor of the Oxford Studies in Dance Theory Series.