Description
The People Have Never Stopped Dancing: Native American Modern Dance Histories is a recently published study of Aboriginal modern dance by Jacqueline Shea Murphy associate professor of dance studies at the University of California. In this comprehensive examination she offers students of modern dance a new appreciation of Native American and Aboriginal Peoples contemporary dance. She begins the study by providing background on her own studies and how she came to more fully understand contemporary Aboriginal dancers and choreographers. The early chapters provide an understanding of the historical and legal background in United States and Canada regarding the prohibition against ceremonial and traditional dances. In spite of the efforts of federal governments of both countries to prohibit ceremonial dances these same governments encouraged stage performances such as Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In the twentieth century modern dancers such as Ted Shawn, Lester Horton, and Martha Graham developed their own understandings of what constituted Native dancing styles. However stereotypical these efforts may seem today these people created an influence on modern dance by utilizing Native American themes. The most interesting section of the book provides detailed descriptions and analysis of modern Aboriginal dancers and choreographers. Contemporary modern dance efforts of the Banff Centre's Aboriginal Dance Program as well as the American Indian Dance Theatre are detailed. Of particular interest are the works of Tom Two Arrows, Daystar/Rosalie Jones, Alejandro Ronceria, Jose Limon, Louis Mofsie, Raoul Trujillo, Santee Smith, Sadie Buck, Sandra Laronde, and Jerry Longboat. This book is a major contribution to the literature about contemporary Aboriginal dance in Canada and the United States.