In this Book
- From Ballroom to DanceSport: Aesthetics, Athletics, and Body Culture
- Book
- 2006
- Published by: State University of New York Press
- Series: SUNY series in Communication Studies
summary
Drawing on recent media portrayals and her own experience, author and dancer Caroline Joan S. Picart explores ballroom dancing and its more “sporty” equivalent, DanceSport, suggesting that they are reflective of larger social, political, and cultural tensions. The past several years have seen a resurgence in the popularity of ballroom dance as well as an increasing international anxiety over how and whether to transform ballroom into an Olympic sport. Writing as a participant-critic, Picart suggests that both are crucial sites where bodies are packaged as racialized, sexualized, nationalized, and classed objects. In addition, Picart argues, as the choreography, costuming, and genre of ballroom and DanceSport continue to evolve, these theatrical productions are aestheticized and constructed to encourage commercial appeal, using the narrative frame of the competitive melodrama to heighten audience interest.
Table of Contents
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- Illustrations
- pp. vii-viii
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-x
- 3. Ballroom Dance and the Movies
- pp. 39-67
- 5. Packaging Fantasy and Morality
- pp. 89-106
- 6. Quo Vadis?
- pp. 107-119
- Ballroom-Dance-Related Organizations
- pp. 121-124
- Bibliography
- pp. 151-159
Additional Information
ISBN
9780791482414
DOI
MARC Record
OCLC
64560494
Pages
177
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No