Women's Dance Traditions of Uzbekistan

<p>The first comprehensive work in English on the three major regional styles of Uzbek women's dance - <br>Ferghana Khiva and Bukhara - and their broader Silk Road cultural connections from folklore roots<br>to contemporary stage dance. <p/>The book surveys the remarkable development from the earliest manifestations in ancient civilizations<br>to a sequestered existence under Islam; from patronage under Soviet power to a place of pride for Uzbek nationhood. <p/>It considers the role that immigration had to play on the development of the dances; how women boldly challenged societal gender roles to perform in public; how both material culture and the natural world manifest in the dance; and it illuminates the innovations of pioneering choreographers who drew from Central Asian folk traditions gestures and aesthetics - not Russian ballet - to first shape modern Uzbek stage dance. <p/>Written by the first American dancer invited to study in Uzbekistan this book offers insight into the once-hidden world of Uzbek women's dance.</p>