*The accompanying CD / downloadable album can also be purchased from the Mike Ruff Music website and from The Endless Bookcase website. This book looks at the practicalities of maypole dancing. Designed for teachers with little or no experience of teaching dance, the traditional dances are laid out in a clear and easy to use format with photos, diagrams and a Dance at a Glance feature. Maypole dancing is constantly changing and growing, and so a number of modern dances are also included, graded from simple to challenging. Issues of inclusivity, creativity and cross-curricular work are addressed in detail, along with non-ribbon dances from the Victorian and Tudor periods which are great for bringing history to life. A website and lively CD complete the package. "Easy to use manual, even for a novice" - Folkestone Primary Academy "This is an excellent, clearly presented maypole teaching resource which is attractively and thoughtfully presented, user-friendly and modern in its outlook. I am very happy to recommend this for anyone wanting the essential information on how to lead maypole dancing with young people and adults alike." - Rachel Elliott, Education Director, English Folk Dance and Song Society "This is the answer to our prayers! A really well written book and entertaining music CD to get people of all ages maypole dancing" - Paul James, Formally Halsway Manor, National Centre for the Folk Arts *The accompanying Maypole Manual Music album can be purchased as a CD or as a download, or as single track downloads.

This overview of folk dancing in the United States showcases an important historical movement and explains how folk dance communities evolved to fulfill the needs of specific groups of people over time. While the general term "folk dance" encompasses a surprising variety of specific dances, there are three major recreational communities or forms: international folk dance, modern western square dance, and contra dance. Throughout the last century, millions of people have enjoyed folk dancing as an educational and recreational activity, regardless of the particular style. Folk Dancing explains the reasons for the folk dance movement that exploded in Europe and North America in the late 19th century. It describes the clubs, camps, festivals, and communities that sprang up, and examines the culture of the movement-the music, key individuals and events, types of clothing, and influences of technologies and popular culture. The book contains authoritative, original information gleaned from the author's own research conducted with hundreds of folk dance enthusiasts across America. Presents information based upon hundreds of candid interviews and informal conversations with folk dancers across the country Provides a timeline of dance trends in North America as related to the folk dance movement Features diagrams of dance formations such as square dance, quadrilles, and contra dance as well as illustrations showing dance positions and community dance events from pre-20th century sources Presents original photographs and images collected from interviewees to illustrate different facets of recreational dance communities Contains a bibliography of resources that covers a broad scope of folk dance history as well as specific recreational communities Includes a glossary of commonly used folk dance terms

Koreans have been immigrating to the United States via Hawaii for over a hundred years, although the greatest influx to the mainland began after 1965, making Koreans one of the most recent ethnic groups in the United States. The intimate socio-political links between the United States and the Korean peninsula after World War II also contributes to the ideas and ideals of what it means to be Korean in the United States. As with many people with immigrant background, young people of Korean descent residing in the United States try to understand their ethnic identities through their families, peers, and communities, and many of these journeys involve participating in cultural activities that include traditional dance, song, and other such performance activities. This study is the culmination of a four-year ethnographic research project on the cultural practices of a group of Koreans in the United States pursuing the traditional Korean cultural art form of pungmul in exploring their ethnic identities. Through the accesses and opportunities afforded to the members of Mae-ari Korean Cultural Troupe by the national and transnational networks with other people of Korean descent, these young people begin to understand themselves as "Korean" while teaching and learning traditional Korean cultural practices in performances, workshops, and everyday interactions with each other. Most studies about Asian Americans focus on the immigration challenges, or the conflicts and differences between generations. While these are important issues that affect the lives of Asian Americans, it is also valuable to focus on how new cultural identities are formed in the attempt to hold on to the traditions of theimmigrant homeland . This research pays close attention to how young people understand their identities through cultural practices, regardless of generational differences. The focus is on collective meaning-making about ethnic identity across immigration statuses and generations. In investigating their ways of being, author Sonya Gwak pays close attention to the semiotic processes within the group that aid in creating and cultivating notions of ethnic identity, especially in the ways in which the notion of culture becomes indelibly linked with "things" within and across the sites. Dr. Gwak also explores the pedagogical processes within the group regarding how cultures are objectified and transformed into tools of teaching and learning. Finally, the study also reveals how people understand their ethnic identities through direct and active engagement with, experience of, and expression of "cultural objects." By looking at the multiple forms of expressing ethnic identity, this study shows how the young people in Mae-ari locate themselves within the time and space of Korean history, Korean American history, activism, performing arts, and tradition. This study argues that ethnic identity formation is a process that is rooted in cultural practices contextualized in social, political, and cultural histories. This book advances the field of ethnic and immigrant studies by offering a new framework for understanding the multiple ways in which young people make sense of their identities. Be(com)ing Korean in the United States is an important book for all collections in Asian American studies, as well as ethnic and immigrant studies.

This is the story of English Country Dance, from its 18th century roots in the English cities and countryside, to its transatlantic leap to the U.S. in the 20th century, told by not only a renowned historian but also a folk dancer, who has both immersed himself in the rich history of the folk tradition and rehearsed its steps.

In City Folk, Daniel J. Walkowitz argues that the history of country and folk dancing in America is deeply intermeshed with that of political liberalism and the 'old left.' He situates folk dancing within surprisingly diverse contexts, from progressive era reform, and playground and school movements, to the changes in consumer culture, and the project of a modernizing, cosmopolitan middle class society.

Tracing the spread of folk dancing, with particular emphases on English Country Dance, International Folk Dance, and Contra, Walkowitz connects the history of folk dance to social and international political influences in America. Through archival research, oral histories, and ethnography of dance communities, City Folk allows dancers and dancing bodies to speak. From the norms of the first half of the century, marked strongly by Anglo-Saxon traditions, to the Cold War nationalism of the post-war era, and finally on to the counterculture movements of the 1970s, City Folk injects the riveting history of folk dance in the middle of the story of modern America.

Considering the concept of power in capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian ritual art form, Varela describes ethnographically the importance that capoeira leaders (mestres) have in the social configuration of a style called Angola in Bahia, Brazil. He analyzes how individual power is essential for an understanding of the modern history of capoeira, and for the themes of embodiment, play, cosmology, and ritual action. The book also emphasizes the great significance that creativity and aesthetic expression have for capoeira's practice and performance.

This book provides the first critical and contextual study of contemporary and historical dance theatre in Ireland. Since the arrival of the traditional dance spectacular Riverdance in 1994, Irish dance has not only become a topic of global interest, but also a subject of heated debate. The emergence of companies such as CoisCeim Dance Theatre and Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre in the mid-1990s marked an important turning point in Irish dance practice that once again provoked a re-thinking of the perception of the dancing body and its position within Irish performance culture. McGrath's study examines how groundbreaking dance theatre works have tackled some of the most urgent and difficult socio-political and cultural questions in Ireland, and how in doing so they have re-imagined seemingly hermetic narratives of oppression and limiting definitions of 'Irish' corporeality. This study provides a timely reading of these revolutionary moves.