The Dancing Goddesses
Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance
Seiten
2013
WW Norton & Co (Verlag)
978-0-393-06536-7 (ISBN)
WW Norton & Co (Verlag)
978-0-393-06536-7 (ISBN)
A fascinating exploration of an ancient system of beliefs and its links to the evolution of dance.
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.
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.
Elizabeth Wayland Barber is the author of Prehistoric Textiles, The Mummies of Ürümchi, and The Dancing Goddesses, among other works. She is professor emerita of archaeology and linguistics at Occidental College, and lives in Utah.
Erscheint lt. Verlag | 19.3.2013 |
---|---|
Zusatzinfo | 150 illustrations and 9 maps |
Verlagsort | New York |
Sprache | englisch |
Maße | 188 x 244 mm |
Gewicht | 886 g |
Themenwelt | Kunst / Musik / Theater |
Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Tanzen / Tanzsport | |
Geisteswissenschaften ► Archäologie | |
ISBN-10 | 0-393-06536-7 / 0393065367 |
ISBN-13 | 978-0-393-06536-7 / 9780393065367 |
Zustand | Neuware |
Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich