The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance
Title | The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance PDF eBook |
Author | Elizabeth Wayland Barber |
Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company |
Pages | 590 |
Release | 2013-02-11 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0393089215 |
A fascinating exploration of an ancient system of beliefs and its links to the evolution of dance. From Southern Greece to northern Russia, people living in agrarian communities have long believed in “dancing goddesses,” mystical female spirits who spend their nights and days dancing in the fields and forests. In The Dancing Goddesses, archaeologist, linguist, and lifelong folkdancer Elizabeth Wayland Barber follows the trail of these spirit maidens—long associated with fertility, marriage customs, and domestic pursuits—from their early appearance in traditional folktales and harvest rituals to their more recent incarnations in fairytales and present-day dance. Illustrated with photographs, maps, and line drawings, the result is a brilliantly original work that stands at the intersection of archaeology and folk traditions—at once a rich portrait of our rich agrarian ancestry and an enchanting reminder of the human need to dance.
When They Severed Earth from Sky
Title | When They Severed Earth from Sky PDF eBook |
Author | E. J. W. Barber |
Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Pages | 311 |
Release | 2006-09-25 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0691127743 |
Why were Prometheus and Loki envisioned as chained to rocks? What was the Golden Calf? Why are mirrors believed to carry bad luck? This groundbreaking book points the way to restoring some of that lost history and teaching about storytelling.
Sacred Display
Title | Sacred Display PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | Cambria Press |
Pages | 218 |
Release | |
Genre | |
ISBN | 1621968324 |
Playing Cards of the Apaches
Title | Playing Cards of the Apaches PDF eBook |
Author | Virginia Wayland |
Publisher | |
Pages | 330 |
Release | 2006 |
Genre | Art |
ISBN |
Drawing on four decades of research, the authors present a history of the cards created by Apache Indians after playing cards were introduced into their culture by Spanish explorers and colonists. Includes reproductions of cards from more than 100 packs in museums and private collections around the world.
A History of Theory and Method in the Study of Religion and Dance
Title | A History of Theory and Method in the Study of Religion and Dance PDF eBook |
Author | Kimerer L. LaMothe |
Publisher | BRILL |
Pages | 122 |
Release | 2018-10-22 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 9004390006 |
The relationship between religion and dance is as old as humankind. Contemporary methods for studying this relationship date back a century. The difference between these two time frames is significant: scholars are still developing theories and methods capable of illuminating this vast history that take account of their limited place within it. A History of Theory and Method in the Study of Religion and Dance takes on a primary challenge of doing so: overcoming a conceptual dichotomy between “religion” and “dance” forged in the colonial era that justified western Christian hostility towards dance traditions across six continents over six centuries. Beginning with its enlightenment roots, LaMothe narrates a selective history of this dichotomy, revealing its ongoing work in separating dance studies from religious studies. Turning to the Bushmen of the African Kalahari, LaMothe introduces an ecokinetic approach that provides scholars with conceptual resources for mapping the generative interdependence of phenomena that appear as “dance” and/or “religion.”
Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture
Title | Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture PDF eBook |
Author | Yosef Garfinkel |
Publisher | University of Texas Press |
Pages | 397 |
Release | 2010-01-01 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0292779968 |
As the nomadic hunters and gatherers of the ancient Near East turned to agriculture for their livelihood and settled into villages, religious ceremonies involving dancing became their primary means for bonding individuals into communities and households into villages. So important was dance that scenes of dancing are among the oldest and most persistent themes in Near Eastern prehistoric art, and these depictions of dance accompanied the spread of agriculture into surrounding regions of Europe and Africa. In this pathfinding book, Yosef Garfinkel analyzes depictions of dancing found on archaeological objects from the Near East, southeastern Europe, and Egypt to offer the first comprehensive look at the role of dance in these Neolithic (7000-4000 BC) societies. In the first part of the book, Garfinkel examines the structure of dance, its functional roles in the community (with comparisons to dance in modern pre-state societies), and its cognitive, or symbolic, aspects. This analysis leads him to assert that scenes of dancing depict real community rituals linked to the agricultural cycle and that dance was essential for maintaining these calendrical rituals and passing them on to succeeding generations. In the concluding section of the book, Garfinkel presents and discusses the extensive archaeological data—some 400 depictions of dance—on which his study is based.
Ancient Egyptian Dances
Title | Ancient Egyptian Dances PDF eBook |
Author | Irena Lexová |
Publisher | Courier Corporation |
Pages | 177 |
Release | 2012-12-31 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 048614870X |
One of the few books in English on the topic investigates origins, nature, role of dance in ancient Egypt. 80 drawings and illustrations adapted from tomb paintings, other sources. New introduction. Bibliography.