Review by Choice Review
Next time you get the willies, will you wonder why? In Slavic lore, willies are water sprites as perilous as they are ravishing. Girls who tragically died before their time, hence without realizing their potential, willies can now wind whisper, shape shift, cavort, and beguile; but beware, for they may tickle and dance a body to death. Such goddesses can be fickle, but they "dance life into existence" as "repositories and creators of fertility and healing powers so desperately needed for families, fields, and flocks to prosper," writes Barber (emer., Occidental College). Readers learn of the goddesses' vestiges in the ancient Near East, Roman theater, and in the stories of the fabulously frightening Baba Yaga of Russia, who lived in a chicken-footed home. The author offers a great many stories of this sort, ranging across millennia and European cultures and accompanied by etymologies, anecdotes, and copious illustrations that are sure to entrance any--especially young women, one can imagine--who ask themselves the author's lifelong question: "why do humans dance, anyway?" Barber is a polymath who merges archaeology, linguistics, folklore, and dance studies, all informed by her own movement practices and articulated through most compelling prose. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General and undergraduate libraries. A. F. Roberts University of California, Los Angeles
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* In her latest, joyfully comprehensive work of scholarly discovery and original analysis, archaeologist, linguist, and prehistoric textiles expert Barber, inspired by her passion for folk dancing, unearths the roots and significance of dance in the diverse cultures of Europe and Russia. Originally dance was not an - art form' but the essence of life itself, a perception borne out by Barber's many-pronged diggings into folklore, religion, agriculture, seasonal rituals, traditional medicine, ornament, and clothing. She begins with folktales about magical dancing female spirits, bringers of fertility, and village maidens dancing to summon spring. Of courtship dances, Barber wryly observes that certain dances evolved to test whether the bride was physically strong and agile enough to do the hard work women performed in the fields and at home. Taking cues from images of dancers in handicrafts and art and spanning ancient Greece and Rome and the meshing of pagan traditions and Christianity, Barber describes dance cures and dances for the ancestors and revels in such intriguing customs as the Slavic magical sleeve dance. She even draws on cognitive science to investigate how dancing affects the brain, bringing people into accord and strengthening communities. Years in the making, Barber's far-roaming, gracefully interpretive, and sprightly study of European dance will be the go-to resource for many years to come.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Traditions of dance and folklore have long been tied to changing seasons and agricultural cycles, and so too have women been linked throughout history to the fertility of the natural world. Basing her investigation on linguistics, archeological evidence, and folklore itself, Barber (Women's Work) explores how the relationship between dance and women has developed over the ages in Europe. She explains that the advent of calendars and holidays were initially intended to aid in agrarian planning; then she focuses on the women who were celebrated and revered during these holidays. They took the form of fairies, mermaids, nymphs, and more, and in their ritual incarnation-whether in art or performance-they were ornamented in silks, skirts, beads, and flora, and could curse or bless the upcoming agricultural season. Rich with anecdotes and compelling explanations of the origin of many modern customs (such as throwing rice at a bride), Barber's is an informative and amusing read, often bringing together many diverse sources-traditional stories, illustrations of artifacts, and aspects of popular culture-into an illuminating whole that will serve as a nice introduction for those unfamiliar with the topic, and a valuable reference for scholars of European dance and folklore. 150 illus. and photos, 9 maps. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The dancing goddesses of the title are the swan maidens, mermaids, and tree-spirits that would eventually morph into the "wilis" of the ballet Giselle, the Rusalka of Dvorak's eponymous Czech opera, and the black and white swans of the ballet Swan Lake. Barber (archaeology & linguistics, emerita, Occidental Coll.; The Mummies of
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An exhaustive study of how a series of remnants of early religion lie at the roots of European folk dance. Barber (Archaeology and Linguistics Emerita/Occidental College; The Mummies of Urumchi, 1999, etc.) begins with a group of beliefs involving water spirits, which go by different names in different cultures but are generally represented as young women who appear in the forests around the time of spring planting. They appear in various guises from Greece to central Russia, but all are dangerous to men--especially those who come upon them when they are dancing in the woods. Barber collects a number of variations on this legend, noting that the days sacred to them vary with the onset of "Crazy week"--the time of their dominance--in the different regions they inhabit. The investigation then turns to the folk celebrations, many of which involve dances or dancelike rituals, proper to each season of the year; Barber traces correspondences between a pre-Christian nature-based calendar and the church season in different cultures. A second section analyzes a Russian folktale, "The Frog Princess," as it shows the expectations of brides in agricultural societies. Barber goes on to trace remnants of pagan ritual in modern customs, moving back through time to uncover the earliest stages of European history. In the final section, she delves even deeper into prehistory, arguing that dance may actually predate language in human culture. The book is richly illustrated with artifacts from a wide range of eras and cultures. This dense, demanding book will undoubtedly be compared with that early modern classic of speculative anthropology, James George Frazer's The Golden Bough. Difficult but rewarding look at a side of history with which many readers will be unfamiliar.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
