The Dance is a study of dancing as an art and a social practice, surveying its forms across history and cultures. The book traces dance from ancient ritual and folk tradition through the courtly and theatrical dancing of later centuries to the styles of the modern age.
Treating both the artistic and the social dimensions of dance, the work considers its place in ceremony, entertainment, and the development of ballet and other stage forms. Music’s close partnership with movement runs throughout the account. As a general history of an art often neglected in print, the book offers an informative introduction to the long and varied tradition of dance.