ABSTRACT
My intentions in writing this book are threefold. To begin with, I wish to set out a case for generating a systematic (although not all inclusive) approach to the sociology of dance. Second, I shall argue that as dance is simultaneously a feature of the sociocultural context of its emergence, creation and performance and a reflexive practice realised through the medium of the body, such an approach needs to be interdisciplinary in character. Third, in order to move beyond a programmatic level, this framework will be exemplified by means of a case study focusing on the emergence and development of American modern dance, particularly through the work of Martha Graham. This case study also typifies the development and establishment of modernism in the arts in America and it heralds its decline and the subsequent emergence of postmodernism.
