How to do things with dance : performing change in postwar America /

Kowal (Univ. of Iowa) argues for the veracity of the patterns she sees in the way American modern dance emerged out of its early "heroic" period--universalist themes, monumental constructions, and a language of dance that was designed to speak to (and perhaps for) "the gods"--into a period of reinvention by choreographers who were ordinary folk interested in the daily moments of life's passing. In many respects, Kowal nails it: she discusses Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Anna Sokolow, and others in intriguing art/social/political/sexual contexts. But at a few points, she seems to stretch the relationships to create a new sociopolitical fit. The same goes for the narrative: in most places it flows and engages the reader; in a handful of others poststructuralist discourse takes command and bogs the reader down in semiotic nuance. This said, Kowal is meticulous in inquiry and makes many a compelling argument about how one might do things with dance that are human, illuminating, socially transforming, and "cool." Accordingly, this is a must read for anyone interested in that least understood of decades in American dance, the 1950s. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; informed general readers. T. K. Hagood Florida International University