A full-color visual history of dance from the waltz to modern hip-hop,
with 200+ illustrations from the British Library collections, including
photographs, cartoons, step notation, magazines and musical scores. This
title reveals the incredible impact of dance on society, rebalancing
gender dynamics, shattering expectations of class and embracing
cross-cultural influences.
Dance is at the heart of diverse cultures around the globe, from the
increasing popularity of salsa clubs, to break dance battles that gather
crowds in the street, to the constant stream of dance routines going
viral on TikTok.
But behind the glitzy performances are amazing and unpredictable
histories: the shocking debut of the waltz in eighteenth-century Vienna;
the power of African-American influence on the jive and Lindy hop; and
the early foundations of hip-hop in funk and disco styles. Tango, samba,
Charleston, cha cha cha, rumba - each dance has distinct rhythms,
quality of movement and complex rules to learn and follow. But they all
shook up society and gave ordinary people the freedom of
self-expression.
Choreographer Robert Hylton navigates an extraordinary array of
photographs, periodicals and ephemera from the British Library
collections, which reveal the true origins of the popular dance styles
that have, at one point or another, swept the population off their
feet.
