The Work of Dance: Labor, Movement, and Identity in the 1930s

Dance and labor may seem an unlikely pairing, but the author of this scholarly work proves otherwise with a look at the relationship between theatrical dancing and the progressive politics of the 1930s. Drawing on a cast ranging from modern dance pioneers Anna Sokolow and Jane Dudley, to the less-celebrated chorines of backstage film musicals, to organizations such as the Federal Dance and Theatre Project (part of the WPA), the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGW), and the Communist Party, Franko (Dancing Modernism/ Performing Politics) "explores how work in the 1930s was configured by dance, and how dancers performed cultural work." A central thesis is that the organizational structure of labor and political groups was replicated and even put into action by the choreography and performances of the day, as seen in the modern dance creations of Martha Graham, the avant-garde revolutionary dance movement, and even the chorus lines of the Ziegfeld Follies. Enhanced by a generous bibliography and detailed notes, this title should find a place in specialized collections in dance, labor, or social history. Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago P.L.
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